To Thaw a Wild Heart
by RachetElsaKicksAss
Summary: While returning to the castle late one summer night, Anna stumbles upon a living myth. Setting Elsa free throws her life upside down, but it was the best bad decision she ever made. ELSANNA
1. A Chance Encounter

**(Title may change)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.**

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><p>A blowing rain lashed at Anna's face as she spurred her horse across the swollen stream. She gave the hood of her cloak a tug, muttering curses to the weather. Her saddle slipped to and fro on her horse's soggy hide, the beast as soaked and grumpy as its rider. A gust of wind sent wet leaves flapping around them like a flock of dead birds.<p>

Anna didn't know how long she had slept, but judging from the blackened sky and the ache in her stomach, it must have been a while. The grassy earth from earlier was now treacherous, all soft mud and hidden rocks. Her father would be sitting near the fire in the dining hall sipping mulled wine and entertaining the dignitary that _she _was supposed to be meeting tonight.

She gave the reins a sharp tug to the right towards a less steep path. She had no interest in slipping down a hill and breaking a leg. It was a longer route, and not one that she often used, but she was in no rush to get home. Her father would be equally furious with her if she returned now or an hour later.

The trees grew thicker, their gnarled roots crisscrossing unseen under the mud, but she maneuvered her steed with practiced ease, trying to give it as clear of a path as possible. But there was nothing she could do about the mud. It sucked down its legs with every step, and the beast quickly grew tired.

Her horse finally whinnied and stopped. Guilt burrowed into Anna's chest when she felt its chest heave between her thighs as it took panting breathes. "Come on, just a little farther. We're almost there," she encouraged, patting its sopping mane.

She prompted it forward once more, and it reluctantly obliged. As if the gods heard her prayers, the mud got shallower. Squinting the rain out of her eyes, Anna spotted a slope ahead of them that would hopefully lead them to higher ground. She couldn't stop the smile that stretched across her face when she saw that she was right.

They were almost out of the mud when her horse stopped again, its ears twitching nervously. Anna groaned in frustration, kicking her heels lightly. "Why did you stop now? A clean road home is literally right _there_," she said, pointing ahead. The horse remained still.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine! Be that way." She tossed her leg over the saddle and landed knee-deep in the mud. She squirmed at the feeling of mud squelching between her toes as she took hold of the reins and led the horse forward. "The things I do for you—"

Her shoulder yanked behind her when the reins pulled taunt. The damn horse was still standing there, twitching its ears and anxiously pawing at the sodden earth. "Please don't make this difficult," she grunted, pulling at the reins with both hands. The horse resisted valiantly, its mud slick legs flailing for traction while its master pulled its head forward like a stubborn donkey. Unfortunately for it, Anna was the more stubborn one, and her small body somehow managed to pull it forward a few paces.

Anna had taken only a few steps before her horse yanked its head back, biting its bridle and struggling desperately to get out of her hold. The reins nearly slipped from her grasp. "Come on, ya big baby." She grit her teeth and gave another tug, but the beast screamed and reared back, tossing her into the mud with an undignified splash before it raced away.

She quickly sat up and spat mud out of her mouth. "Wait, no no no come back!" But it was too late, the horse was gone.

Anna groaned despairingly. It wasn't like she couldn't find her way back. She knew every rock and tree and bend in the forest like the back of her hand. It was her sanctuary. She often came out here to get away from her duties, if not for just a little while.

But it was a whole new world at night. It felt less like a sanctuary and more like a penitentiary. Her only company was the patter of the rain and the deep moaning of the wind. The trees, so much taller now without the added height of her steed, leaned in around her like giant shadows, their knotted faces staring down at her and their clawed branches reaching out to grab her. She quickly got to her feet, trying and failing to suppress a shiver when a glop of mud slid down the back of her once green dress.

Her wet wool cloak clung to her sodden and itching, and her hood fell back off her head, filled with mud. "O-Okay," she murmured into the wind, a fresh wave of rain blinding her.

She gathered up her mud-caked skirts and trudged up the low crested hill. Her steps were high and awkward, having to lift her knees to her chest at every step. More than once she lost her footing and plopped to the ground. Her thighs burned from yanking her feet out of the sucking mud, and she wished now more than ever that her horse had stayed with her.

A growl and snarl from behind her made Anna stop dead in her tracks, her heart leaping into her throat. Kristoff had always warned her that a stray wolf or bear would do her in. He'd warned her to take guards with her when she went on her little "outings." Not looking back to see which beast was behind her, she sped up her pace to get up the small rise. _Oh nooo, God forbid I ever listen to my bodyguard, _she heard herself say over the incessant pounding of her heart in her chest.

She scrambled up the top of the hill, slipping on the water-heavy grass. She was about to continue her getaway when the growls jumped in front of her. Then beside her. Then behind. Then front again.

Anna spun in a confused circle, the wind howling about her and her breathing quickly becoming sporadic. The sounds were coming from everywhere. They had her surrounded. Kristoff was right.

_No. It's just the wind. It's playing tricks on me. It's just the win—_

A roar-like scream nearly made her jump out of her own skin. Screaming so loud that her own ears rang, Anna dove to the ground, covered her hands over her head, and waited for whatever was hunting her to come crashing through the trees, maw mashing and claws swiping with ease through her soft flesh.

She slowly opened her eyes when she found her head still attached to her shoulders and her body not bleeding out on the ground. She was alone, just as she was before. She listened for her carnivorous pursuers, but all she could hear was the dull thump of her pulse rapidly pounding in her ears.

The wind died down to a small gust. The sounds stopped.

Anna shakily got to her feet, adrenaline still pumping through her veins. When still there was silence, she laughed. It was a small, nervous sound that quickly morphed into a full belly laugh that would make any man question her sanity.

"I must be losing it!" she said out loud. She turned and continued her walk, not caring anymore about the mud caking to her body. "There was nothing there! Haha—!"

The scream came again, accompanied by a chorus of growls. Anna froze. It was easy to hear now with the wind dying down.

The scream was human.

_Why would someone be…Is someone being attacked?_

She nearly kicked herself at the realization. She was too busy being a coward to actually _listen_ to what she was hearing. What if they needed help? What if they were hurt? They're too far from the castle for anyone to hear them—

Well, she was here.

_I have to help them._

But what would she do? What _could_ she do? If they were being attacked by anything with fangs and claws, she would be slaughtered before she could help. Heck, she would probably _help_ them get killed! She should just ignore it. Just ignore it and go home to her father.

The scream came again, the note of pain in its tenor shooting a dagger through Anna's heart.

_What are you doing?!_ she screamed at herself as her legs pelted her towards the scream.

It took a few minutes of running in circles until she was able to correctly pinpoint where the sound was coming from. It wasn't too far from where she had lost her horse. _It probably knew what it was. That's why it was so scared._

She climbed a hill to a cluster of high bushes and pines. She shivered when the next wind that hit her was cold, and for a second she forgot it was summer. The growls and human—female—yelps of pain were coming from just beyond the bushes.

So someone _was_ being attacked by a wild animal.

Anna crouched behind a bush, ignoring the pointed leaves that snagged into her skin and dress. She steadied her breathing to be as quiet as she could. There was a sound of struggling, of snarls and splashes of mud. With her curiosity now overriding her fear, Anna turned her head an inch at a time and peeked out from behind the bush.

The first thing she noticed was the ice. A thick layer of frost covered all the surrounding foliage as far as she could see. The pine needles in the trees were frozen to icicles, and the mud was glossed over like a small frozen pond. Large shards of ice pierced out of the muddy ground, and chunks and chips of shattered ice floated in small puddles of mud. Anna released a shaky breath, and was only half-surprised when it came out as a white puff.

"Ahhhh!" Anna's attention snapped to the figure struggling in the mud, their back towards her. With a flick of their wrist, a knife of ice materialized in their hand. It was quickly stabbed down and a clang of ice on metal followed. An irritated, wolf-like growl tore from the figure's throat as they threw aside the now broken tool.

Anna sat dumbstruck, her brain unable to comprehend what she was seeing in front of her. Part of her told her that she should be afraid, but all she could feel was her jaw hanging open in awe. _Magic…?_

The figure grunted and turned their body, giving Anna a clear side view as they repositioned themselves. It appeared to be a woman, though she was caked in so much mud that the only indication of her gender was the slight slope of her breasts under her tattered clothes. Her long, loose hair stuck down her back, slick with mud and tangled with foliage.

The woman bared her teeth and growled in frustration, trying and failing to pry open the bands of metal ensnaring her ankle. Her hands glowed an unnatural blue, and a chiming hum filled the air. Frost cracked over the metal.

_A foot-trap._ Anna recognized the devise easily enough. As Crown Princess, it was one of her duties to memorize the devices used by the trappers in her kingdom to see that they were properly regulated. _But she should be able to open it…That's how they're made. The trap snares a foot, and the trapper just pulls it open._

The woman released the metal with a frustrated roar, rubbing her sore palms. She scooted closer to the trap and tenderly lifted her snared foot to the side, revealing the short chain beneath it that anchored it to a weight buried in the ground. Positioning herself on the ground for leverage, she grabbed the chain with both hands, took a deep breath, and pulled so hard that the chain groaned.

"Come on, you can do it," Anna whispered. She couldn't help but empathize with the woman…creature…thing. The trap was obviously giving her pain. It was designed for some animal, but she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. _Looks like we have that in common._

The chain continued to groan, but it never budged. Anna felt her hope for her freedom falter as the woman grew desperate, tugging and yanking as hard as she could though her efforts yielded nothing. She kept at it until her muddied hands lost their grip on the chain and she fell backwards, yelping in pain at the jarring it made on her ankle. She winced as she pushed herself up on her elbows and slumped over the trap that still held her foot in an iron grip. Her mouth hung open, her panting breathes interrupted by occasional dry swallows.

The rain continued to pelt around them, the frost on the ground cracking and reforming after every drop of warm rain.

The woman grit her teeth and clenched her hands into fists. She roared in anger—and what sounded almost like grief—and flung her arm to the side, magic shooting from her palm and drowning whatever foliage that was in that direction under a thick wave of ice.

The woman waited for her angry panting to subside before she let her outstretched arm plop into the mud at her side. She stared longingly at her foot, the trap firmly clasped around her ankle, and whined, the sound ending as a pitiful whimper.

She sounded like a mourning child. Completely and utterly helpless. Her head hung low, her chin resting exhaustedly on her chest. Anna would have sworn she was crying had the rain not made it hard to tell. The completely defeated look in her eyes looked like she was resigning herself to death, like she was just going to sit there and wait for whoever set the snare to come put her out of her misery. _One look at what she can do and they won't hesitate to kill her…_ A light snow began to drizzle around the area, dancing between the falling raindrops like a manifestation of the woman's grief.

_She can't give up now_, Anna thought sadly. Maybe she could help. She may not be an engineer, but she could certainly figure something out. She didn't sit through lessons half her life for nothing. Anna shuffled her feet beneath her, careful to not make any noise on the bush. She knew that she should be afraid, but she couldn't help but think if the woman was friendly. She could have her out of there in no time. Sure her powers were dangerous, but didn't mean that she was.

The woman scooted away from her foot, stretching out her leg. In a flash of soft blue light, a large knife materialized in her hand. It was a short curved blade, nearly transparent when it sharpened to a point. For a second Anna found her hope again, that the woman would try again to break the chain. However, there was no need for her to be biting a stick between her teeth. And the look her cool blue eyes made when she glanced between the blade and her foot was a little concerning. _Is she…_

Anna nearly laughed at herself for thinking such a thing. That was way too extreme. _Oh, what is she going to do, cut off her—_

Anna's breath hitched when the woman position her ankle in front of the blade, her arm drawing back to deliver the amputating blow.

"**_Stop!_**" she screeched, jumping out from behind her bush in all her spontaneous glory.

Anna's eyes widened to the point that they felt ready to pop out of her head. She never wanted to unsay something so badly in her life.

The woman's head whipped around so fast that Anna felt her own neck twitch. Her look of surprise and slight fear quickly morphed to a hostile glare that made her look more animal than human. She threw the knife in her hand without a second thought, the ice morphing from one blade into a dozen as it sped towards its redheaded target.

_Nope! Not friendly! Definitely not friendly!_

Squealing in surprise, Anna ran out of the way when she should have dove. She dodged as best she could, stretching and bending her body in contortions that she knew would leave her sore in the morning, but she still heard her dress tear and felt the stings of fresh cuts. A slice to her cheek made her stumble, and just as she regained her footing, another larger volley of ice pelted towards her at an unnatural velocity. She screamed and jumped behind a tree. A pit of terror knotted in her stomach when she both heard and felt the ice thud into the tree behind her.

The air dropped to freezing. Anna watched with mounting horror as frost crept over her wet clothes in silver webs. She flexed her hands, and a thin layer of frozen rain cracked and fell off her skin before it was quickly replaced with another.

_This is it. This is how I'm gonna die. _

She choked back her tears. She just wanted to go home.

"P-Please, I just—!" she pleaded. She was interrupted with more thuds, the shards of ice shaking her tree violently.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I—!" There was a strange whizzing sound and Anna screamed when she found herself flanked by two fans of angry spiked ice.

The barrage of ice continued to increase, as did Anna's feeling of hopelessness. There was no way she could run from this. It would be all too easy for the woman to strike her down. Her tree would only hold for so long, and she doubted she could dodge the woman's attacks a second time.

She knew what she had to do, but that didn't make it any less terrifying. She could feel her pulse racing beneath her skin, every cell in her body screaming for her not to do it. But she had no other choice.

When there was a pause in the attacks, Anna quickly stepped out from behind the tree, hoping that her face didn't give away how terrified she was.

Like a wild animal, the growling woman was crouched defensively, clearly uncomfortable with being forced out in the open while she fought off a potential threat. Her jewel-like eyes gave Anna a curious glance over before her magic swirled around her palms and wrists, charging another attack.

"If you want to kill me, fine! D-Do it! But just so you know that without me, y-you can't get out!" she yelled, her voice sounding just as pathetic and squeaky as she feared it would. She could see the tree she had been hiding behind in the edge of her vision. If the ice wasn't meant to kill her, she would have thought it beautiful. But, seeing as that wasn't the case, she couldn't help but shudder at the size of the spikes impaled in the bark.

Anna searched the face of the woman for any trace of reaction to her words, but the only cue for her to continue speaking was the lack of ice shards flying at her face.

She swallowed dryly, hoping that her voice wouldn't waver as much this time. "T-That's right. I-I know how to get you out of that thing." The woman growled, clearly not believing her, and the swirl of magic between her hands glowed brighter. Anna scrambled for another argument. "B-But even if I can't, you're going to die anyway. I don't think that the person who set that would let a…a-a…," she stuttered, not knowing what to refer to the woman as since she was clearly not human but not quite animal, "H-He just wouldn't let you go, okay? You can kill me and your one chance of getting out of here and t-then die yourself, or you could let me try and get you out."

_Or you could just kill me and cut off your foot..._

Anna tried not to think about that. If the woman was willing to hack off a limb to avoid being found, then why would she even consider her offer? She could agree to let her help and _then_ kill her. It would save her foot and there would be no witness.

Anna swallowed hard, her endless optimism beginning to fail her.

Icy blue eyes bore into frightened teal, their gaze revealing nothing about what the woman was thinking. A thick bead of blood tickled down Anna's cheek, her sweat stinging her wound. The magic in the woman's hands continued to swirl, its rhythmic hum almost soothing over the roar of the rain. All she needed to do was flick her wrist and Anna would be a pin cushion.

The woman finally lowered her hands, her face a distrustful scowl and a growl rumbling deep in the back of her throat. The temperature rose slightly, the frost on the mud and trees melting to dew and mixing with the rain.

Anna didn't move right away. _I…I can't believe that worked…_ She took a step forward, completely expecting it to be her last. When she found herself not impaled, she nearly jumped for joy. She took a few more steps, keeping her movements deliberate and slow and praying that her innate clumsiness wouldn't get her killed. She didn't feel like testing the ice-wielder's temper. The woman shifted uncomfortably on the ground the closer Anna got, her gaze never leaving the redhead who claimed to help her.

The woman scooted away from her when she crouched near the chain, distancing herself as far as she could physically manage without straining her ankle. She growled and her magic swirled around her hands in a silent yet powerful threat. Anna tried to think nothing of it, just as she tried to think that her hands were shaking because of the cold.

The metal bands were dug deep into the skin of the woman's ankle, her blood caking with the mud around the trap. Anna ran her hands over the metal as she inspected the snare, thankfully finding only minor differences between this one and the diagrams from her lessons. Her hand brushed against the woman's foot, but she wasn't aware of the fact until she snapped up and snarled at her, the predatory sound louder than any animal that she ever heard. "S-Sorry!"

Careful not to make any physical contact _whatsoever_, Anna slightly tilted the trap to look at the underside, hoping to find something useful. She gave an audible "Ah-Ha!" when she spotted the tension mechanism. She twisted and pulled at the pin underneath that held it together, the job a little harder with the mud clogging the hole. She heard the woman wince in pain when she accidentally jarred the trap, but she didn't stop until the pin was out and the tension holding the woman's ankle was released.

Anna smiled so broad her cheeks ached. _YES! I did it!_ She tossed the pin to the side and wiped the rain and sweat that had gathered on her brow. "That wasn't so—"

The sudden feeling of bark against her back forced the air from her lungs, and the cold hand squeezing her throat kept her from refilling them. Surprised, she grasped at the offending arm, digging her nails into the corded muscle that easily held her in place. She felt frost crawl on her throat and up her jaw.

The woman bared her teeth in a snarl, her blue eyes narrowed to chips. Her free hand hummed with icy magic that promised to be used. She certainly didn't seem like she was half a foot taller when she was sitting down, but now that she was leering over her, Anna found that she had underestimated her in more ways than one.

Anna felt a tear run down the side of her face. She knew she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. The woman wanted no witness.

She was going to kill her.

The woman's face lowered until her nose almost touched Anna's, and her snarl receded to a threatening growl though it was no less terrifying. Her narrowed eyes flickered over Anna's face, her nostrils slightly flaring. Her grip loosened to give Anna just enough air to wheeze.

Black spots danced at the edge of Anna's vision, the world around her narrowing to the arctic gaze staring so intently at her. She waited for something to happen—an icicle to sprout from her chest, her neck to snap, her body to freeze—but the woman just _stared _at her.

The black crowding her vision turned to stars when the back of her head smacked against the tree. The pressure on her throat disappeared. Anna's shaky legs gave out beneath her, and she quickly slumped to the ground, her open mouth gulping greedy amounts of oxygen.

Her head lolled to the side, her blurry eyes frantically searching for the woman.

But to her relief, she was gone.

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><p><strong>Thoughts? If you could drop a review that would be awesome (it won't hurt your fingers, I promise), but if you can't, I still luv u:3<strong>

**-REKA**


	2. Taken

**Thank you to all who reviewed and favorited:)**

**On to chapter two!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.**

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><p>Anna's bare feet pounded over the plush carpet, but her heart was pounding harder, the frantic muscle beating against her ribs like a bird trying to escape its cage. Water and sweat streamed down her face and dripped into her wheezing mouth, her lungs burning for her to stop. Moonlight pouring through the windows split the shadows of the hall. Paintings and suits of armor of long dead ancestors passed by her in a dull blur.<p>

Fear crawled up her back like a spider, the hairs on the back of her neck bristling to attention. She swore she could hear those footsteps chasing just behind her, hunting her down like a hawk closing in on its prey. A shiver bolted up her spine when she felt something brush her elbow. Her squeal of terror was choked down when her chest constricted like a turtle trying to burrow back into its shell, and her pace somehow sped up to an inhuman capacity.

The heat sapped from her body, and a growl rumbled deeply in her ears.

She skidded around a corner, not expecting a wall to meet her face. For a second she thought she was dead. The pain from her lungs and legs dulled to the flat-line ring shrieking in her ears, and her body bounced backwards.

The world around her came rushing back when hands grabbed her arms to steady her from falling backwards. She screamed, but the sound was more like a squeak since her lungs were too busy shriveling to nothingness to help her speak.

The smell of stables and grass filling her nose made her resist the urge to struggle.

"Anna?!" exclaimed a familiar voice, concern dripping from each syllable. Gauntleted arms gave her a gentle shake. The small dent in his chestplate contrasted greatly with the large red mark bruising her forehead. She panted like a dog in the middle of summer, but her widened eyes and unconcern for the blow she just took told him she was okay.

Without her fiery hair to distinguish her, Kristoff would have thought her a beggar in her torn, muddy dress. "Wha—Where the hell were you? We were going to send a search party when Sitron came back without you!"

Anna swiveled her head behind her and leaned out of his grip, not paying attention to what he was saying. She expected ice to be lining the halls and hanging from the ceiling in frozen stalagmites, but all she found was an empty hallway.

Relief hit her like a tidal wave, and she would have cried in relief without the adrenaline and liquid fear running through her veins keeping her tense.

She pointed a shaky hand over her shoulder and patted the metal on Kristoff's arm. "Kris...K-Kristoff! *pant pant* there's…there's this—"

"Your father is going to _kill _you! Do you have any idea how worried—" Her knight's honey eyes squinted at the gash on her face. "Wha…What did you do?!" he asked, his voice hiking an octave. Anna shivered when the cold chainmail of his glove wiped the blood clotting over her wound.

Anna swatted his hand away. "'m fine…But magic—"

"I am so dead when your father sees this. First the accident with the pies, now this? I can't protect you if you keep running away, Anna. I know you need your alone time, but if you keep hurting yourself like this, I swear to god I'll—"

"Kristoff!" Anna yelled, making the blonde quiet. She grabbed his upper forearms in an insanely vice grip. "Can you _please_ just listen to me for three seconds? There's a—"

"Who's there?" boomed a voice from down the hall.

Anna rolled her eyes at the interruption, her fear for her life quickly morphing to an urge to pull out her hair. "Oh for the love of—P-Papa," she stuttered.

Her father paused in the doorway to his study. Candlelight leaked out from behind him, and his reading spectacles sat at the bridge of his nose. He blinked into the darkness of the hallway. "Anna?" he questioned, his voice full of a hope and relief that made Anna's stomach churn with guilt.

His eyebrow arched in confusion at her appearance. Her dress was torn to shreds, her hair was sodden a dark orange, and mud stuck to her like chips of paint on a century old painting.

Anna instinctively shrank back when his teal eyes lit with fury. "Anna…"

His mustache tilted in a snarl as strode forward, the metals on his black uniform swaying with the violent motion. The oak door to his study slammed behind him. "I hope you have a very good explanation for where you have been, young lady. Do you have any idea what time it is? I—what happened to your face?" He furrowed his brow and angrily gestured a gloved hand to the slice on her cheek leaking a steady stream of blood.

Anna scrambled to speak, her fluttering heart hitting her lungs and making her breathes shallow and fast. "Papa! There was this person—well, not really a person—but anyways, there was this person, and they were stuck, and I tried to help but then they were like 'grrrr' and I was like 'no wait' and then they did this thing like 'pew pew pew' and i-it was magic! A-And—"

King Agdar sighed, taking off his spectacles and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Anna, this is not the time for one of your stories. Do you have _any_ _idea_ what I—" he caught himself raising his voice and stopped. He never liked to raise his voice at is daughter, no matter what she did. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, some of the red in his face leaving when he exhaled. "Anna, a young gentleman sailed for two weeks to get here for the sole purpose of meeting you—"

"But she's still out there! Papa, I'm telling the truth—"

"—today. As princess, or even as a person of good character, you cannot brush off courtesy—"

"—if you just let me explain—OH! Or you could send a sear—"

"ENOUGH!" King Agdar shouted, his baritone voice echoing through the empty hallway. The whites of his eyes stood in stark contrast to the ripe red of his face. A vein bulged on his forehead, looking ready to pop any second.

Anna flinched, and she suddenly felt vulnerable with Kristoff no longer at her side. She cautiously opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted.

"Is everything alright, Your Majesty?" asked a new voice.

The three turned their heads to the newcomer. Anna couldn't make out much of him in the dark, but his figure was tall.

King Agdar's demeanor flipped like a switch, a political skill beaten into him from years of diplomacy. "Prince Hans," he stated, surprise evident in his voice. He straightened his posture and his black boots clicked together. "I apologize if our conversation woke you. Just a minor miscommunication."

Hans was quiet for a handful of seconds, and Anna could feel his confused eyes gazing at her less than proper appearance. He cleared his throat. "My apologies, Your Majesty, I did not mean to interrupt—"

"Oh no, you were not interrupting at all. We were just finishing." He shot Anna a meaningful glance. "Did you need something?"

The tall figure strode over, his steps long and meaningful. Typical dignitary style. He ran a hand through his auburn hair, whether from nervousness or habit was anyone's guess. The silk of his white suit swished as he walked, the golden tassels on his shoulders and the purple sash across his chest indictitive of royalty.

"Yes, sir. I just received word from my father that he needs me back in the Southern Isles immediately. Apparently there was some quarrel among the nobles, and he wishes me to mediate."

"That's absurd. Can he not ask one of your brothers? It would be a shame for you to cut your journey short when you only just got here."

"Yes, but he insists. My brothers tend to be a little blunt, and I have the best favor with their families. They are a handful of the larger houses in our kingdom. Their guard is practically a small army, so the situation must be dealt with delicately. Something that I just happen to excel at."

Anna saw a muscle twitch on her father's jaw. His fingers toyed with the golden cufflinks on his uniform, a bad habit of his for whenever he was beginning to get frustrated. "I pray the outcome will be in your father's favor. Needless bloodshed should always be avoided. When is your departure?"

"Early tomorrow morning, according to my shipmaster."

King Agdar nodded his head knowingly, as if he was approving of the shipmaster's decision. "Well then, Anna and I will join you for an early breakfast and see you off in the morning."

"I would love nothing more, Your Majesty. I am very much looking forward to meeting her."

King Agdar almost laughed. "Ah! How foolish of me." He stepped to the side so Hans and Anna were in front of each other. "Allow me to introduce my daughter, Princess Anna."

Hans blinked at her in surprise, his eyebrows shooting upwards. "Please forgive me for not recognizing you, Princess." He bowed deeply. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Prince Hans of the Southern Isles." He slipped his glove around her fingers and kissed the back of her still wet hand, politely ignoring the rain water.

Anna blushed when his lips caressed her knuckles. "I'm A-Anna. Well, I guess you already knew that, but i-it's very nice to meet you as well." She cleared her throat to try and get rid of her awkward. "I'm really sorry I missed dinner with you. I had a, um…a thing." _Nice going, stupid._

Hans chuckled, and Anna felt her face burn with sudden shame. "It's no problem at all, Your Highness. Everyone needs a moment of respite." He smiled, his eyes lighting in amusement. "I just wish mine were as eventful as yours seem to be. I apologize for overhearing, but I believe you said something about a monster in the forest? Sounds like quite the interesting tale."

Anna opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by her father harshly clearing his throat. He shot her a glare daring her to continue her rant from before. The classic "mess this up and you'll regret it for the next month" glare.

She seriously thought about telling him anyways, her father be damned.

But he already had more than enough to be disappointed in her about. Why add more fuel to the fire?

She shuffled her feet and looked away. "It…It was nothing," she mumbled, picking at a loose lock of wet hair stuck to her cheek and tucking it behind her ear. "Just, uh…just a stray dog I mistook for a wolf. I got scared and fell of my horse." She wiped her bleeding cheek with the back of her hand. "And cut myself on a rock."

Hans' mouth gaped stupidly for a solid six seconds. He genuinely had nothing to say to that, but Anna had to give him credit for trying to keep the awkward to a minimum. She looked up to find his eyes, a queer shade of green, and he coughed uncomfortably, folding one of his hands behind his back. "Oh." He held her gaze for a moment longer before smiling politely. "Well I'm glad it was just a dog and not a wolf. There's no telling what a wild animal can do."

Anna subconsciously rose her shoulders. "Yeah…"

Hans opened his mouth to continue to speak, but was interrupted by the patter of feet quickly heading towards them. A portly man in a servant's uniform paused when he saw the three of them gathered before he hustled to whispered something in the king's ear.

King Agdar sighed. "…chooses to come at this ungodly hour…" he mumbled. He turned back to the two and clasped his hands together. Anna knew from his change in posture that he was preparing to move elsewhere. "Well, the hour is very late, and I am sure you are quite tired from your travels, Prince Hans. Kai can show you back to your room." He gestured to the servant beside him and he bowed. "If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, sir." Hans bowed. "Goodnight, Princess," he said before following Kai, his voice a little too soft to be taken as a cordial pleasantry.

"And Ser Bjorman," the king boomed to the blonde knight standing respectively off to the side. The blonde stepped forward and snapped to attention. "Please escort my daughter to her room," he bit out. Anna cringed at the icy undertone of his words. _And make sure she stays there._

Anna took a small step forward, her hand reaching for her father's arm. "Papa I…" Her heart ripped like a piece of sodden paper when he turned on his heel and marched back to his study, not sparing her a glance.

The door slammed, and Anna ducked her head. A dark pool of mud and water stained the carpet where she stood. Kristoff said something, probably a condolence of some sort. She felt his hand push lightly between her shoulders to guide her down the hall like a lamb that strayed too far from its pen.

"She really was there," she mumbled, her voice laced with a defeated whine.

Kristoff nodded his head. "I know, I know."

"She was…I don't know what she was. She was terrifying, mostly. And aggressive and violent and mean. Especially mean. Like an animal or something. She literally_ growled_ at me."

"I know."

Her hand rubbed her surprisingly unbruised neck, tracing where cold fingers dug into her throat. "I really thought she was going to kill me…"

"Hmm."

Her hand fell back to her side. "I wish Papa would've listened. It's not another prank, honest. I know he's busy being King and all, but I'm telling the truth. "

Kristoff grunted, the sound slurred into a yawn.

"And he—Are you even listening to me?"

Kristoff hesitated. "…Yeah."

Anna pursed her lips angrily, her brow angled in an angry scowl. She huffed and swatted his hand away. He blinked in surprise at the sudden act and watched dumbly as she stormed away before he chased after her. "Hey, wait up!"

Anna grit her teeth, her face burning from…embarrassment? Anger? Both? She didn't care. What she felt didn't matter apparently. She was princess of one of the largest countries of the North, future ruler of millions of people, and yet when she spoke she might as well have been talking to a wall.

Anna's angry strides were cut off when a man, if he could be called that, walked in front of her from one of the halls running perpendicular to the one she was in. She dug her heels into the rug and came to an abrupt halt.

She was not in the mood for pleasantries. "Hey, watch where you're—"

Her jaw fell slack at the sight of the human mountain. A few dozen cows had to have been killed to clad him in the surplus of leather layering him head to foot. His jaw was littered with patches of beard that matched the greasy ebony locks on his head. His eyes, a bleached grey that looked almost white, were hidden deep in their sockets under a hood of bushy eyebrows.

Her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish. His neck was as thick as an ox's, and his trunk-thick arms could break her in half like a twig if he wanted.

"Anna!" Kristoff ran to her side. He gave the stranger a glance over with narrowed eyes. "I don't recognize you from the staff. Who are you? How did you get in the castle?" he demanded in a clear voice, his fear either well hidden or stupidly non-existent.

Ignoring Kristoff, the man leered uncomfortably close to Anna, his marble eyes blazing with scrutiny as they raked over her body. The smell of salt and sweat suffocating her made her hold her breath. She shrunk under his examination, the intensity of his gaze making her feel like she was naked before him.

His eyes lit up in realization and flicked up to hers, the pupils an unnerving point in a sea of greyish iris. "Ah, ya must be Adgar's daughter," he ground through rotten teeth, his voice like sandpaper on stone. His face, sunburnt to a brown leather, wrinkled into a lopsided smile. "What's a young lass like you roamin' the halls at night fer?"

Kristoff stepped in front of Anna defensively. "I asked you a question." He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. "Who. Are. You."

The man huffed and straightened up. If Kristoff was intimidated by the foot in height difference, he didn't show it. "Stop growlin', boy. And get yer hand of yer sword before ya lose it." He shoved Kristoff aside. "Hotheaded badger," he mumbled.

Kristoff flew like a ragdoll from the blow and crumpled in a heap on the floor. Anna turned on the man angrily. "Hey! Who do you think you are? Explain yourself, or I'll call the guards!" she yelled. Her blonde knight scrambled to his feet and drew his sword.

"Ah, hotblooded just like ya father," the man laughed. "Must be the hair. And if ya guards are anythin' like blunder-boy-wonder here, I don't think I've reason to worry meself. But since ya asked so nicely…" He stepped back and gave a mockingly deep bow. "The name's Edgar Quade, but folks call me Crow. Long story ta that one, but I won't bore ya." He waved a hand dismissively at Kristoff who took a step forward. "Put that thing away boy, before ya hurt yerself."

"Don't call me boy," Kristoff hissed. He raised his sword to Crow's chest, the metal tip scratching leather.

Anna clenched her hands into fists, her muscles tense and ready to sprint. She knew enough about being royal that a man this big wouldn't stop by to ask for directions. "Why did you sneak into Castle Arendelle?" she demanded, holding her head high and trying to sound authoritative.

"Sneak in?" He laughed, a deep bellied noise that sounded like chopping meat. "Dearie, If I wanted ta sneak in an' slit ya throat ya woulda been bleedin' on the floor hours ago. No, I'm an a…an acquaintance of Adgar's. I just happened to be in town, so I figured I'd pop in to conduct a bit o' business."

"That's _King_ Adgar to you," Kristoff all but yelled. "And what business would you have with the King, _pirate_," he spat.

"Oh, you flatter me, boy, but I'm no pirate. Just happen to be on ships a lot is all. I'm more of an odd job bloke for the blue-blooded." He reached into one of the many pockets in his leather trenchcoat. "Ya father has me helpin' him deliver the king's justice," he said almost tauntingly. He pulled a piece of rolled paper from his coat to prove his point, the wax seal of Arendelle and print of the king's ring clear.

"King's justice…So he hired you to kill someone?" Anna asked, her eyes narrowed.

"A tad bit like that. Dead or alive, but circumstances provide that his quaery is better off brought in dead." He tucked the paper back in his jacket. "But don't worry ya little head, Princess. Ya father's as honorable a man as he says he is. It's just another killer escapin' the noose."

"A murderer?"

"Aye. A monster more like. Rumor says it made a deal with the devil to freeze a man's heart. I've been huntin' the demon for fourteen years now." Crow absentmindedly scratched one of the deeper scars on his face. "Little bitch always slips away."

Anna's breath hitched, a vision of arctic blue eyes flashing through her mind.

Kristoff's hand lightly squeezed her shoulder. "Come on, Anna, let's get out of here. This guy's craz—"

"Wait!" She tore away from Kristoff. Her mind raced like a hornets nest kicked by a horse, too fast to comprehend any one thought. There were so many questions she wanted to ask. Picking one was like asking a mother which child she loved best. "Ugh…" She settled with the first thing that came to her mind. "W-Who did she kill?"

Crow leaned down, almost amused. He swatted away the sword tip digging into his chest. "The little princess wants to know more about the monster, eh? Why the sudden interest, deary?" Black fingernails poked out of a fingerless glove to scratch the stubble growing under his jaw.

Anna felt like she was choking on her tongue. The urge to tell him everything that happened was agonizing. He would listen to her. He would understand.

But…she just couldn't. She didn't know whether it was her desire to get away from him or the way Crow talked about the woman, but she just didn't want to tell her secret anymore. The words nagged at her mind and played on her tongue, but she just wouldn't let them leave her mouth.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach. "J-Just curious," she mumbled, her voice squeaking. Her face heated up and her eyes darted away.

Anna felt her heart speed up in her chest when he didn't answer immediately. She could feel his eyes staring at her, almost like they were boring holes into her skull and reading her mind. She resisted the urge to step away from him.

Her muscles tensed to flee when he leaned in closer. "Hmmm. And I'm guessin' it's ya curiosity that told ya it was a gal?" he asked slowly.

Anna drummed her fingers on her elbows. "N-No, you, ugh, called it a bitch so I just assumed…," she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper.

Crow gave her a long stare, his eyes calculating. Anna held her breath.

"Hmph. Sharp one ya are," he said, standing back up. Anna exhaled, her body slumping with relief. "Well, it's past your bedtime, ya Highness. Goodnight," he said abruptly. He sauntered between her and Kristoff and waved backwards to them. "I'll be outta yer hair in the mornin'."

Kristoff scowled and murmured a curse under his breath. He nudged Anna forward and they continued down the hall.

Anna's mind hurt from the amount of thoughts running through her head. She tried not to think about it, but the subject pulled her in like a magnet. The woman was wanted. She killed someone. _Maybe that trap wasn't there by accident…_

"Hey, everything alright?"

Anna looked up at her knight, blinking her thoughts away as she tried to figure out what he just said. "What? No. Everything's fine. Nothing wrong," she hastily said, her fake smile paining her face.

Stopping in front of her door, Kristoff sighed in relief and smiled. "That's good. For a second there I thought that guy scared you or something."

Anna shoved his shoulder half-heartedly. "It takes more than that to scare me," she said. _Like an ice demon about to kill me. _

They mumbled their goodnights before Anna closed her room door. She gave her bathroom a glance as she walked past it. Same to her wardrobe. She was too tired to do anything else but go to sleep.

She plopped onto her feather bed and buried her face in her pillow, the smell of jasmine and whatever other cleaning herbs used on her things pleasantly filling her nose. She didn't care if the mud and water ruined the comforter. She was tired. She was confused. But she was happy to be alive.

_She could have killed me_, she thought as her eyelids weighted down. _She killed before. What stopped her now?_ She turned on her stomach and laced her fingers under her pillow. _Maybe my bad luck is taking a turn for the better. _

She curled her knees to her stomach and cradled her head in her hands through her pillow. Her mind swirled with thoughts of blue eyes and ice as the hands of sleep dragged down her eyelids and relaxed her to sleep.

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><p><em>Creak.<em>

Anna's eyes snapped opened when she was on the verge of falling completely asleep. An unnerving chill danced down her spine, and the hairs on the back of her neck bristled. Something was wrong. Something was off.

She turned her head over, her eyes blinking into the darkness of her room.

Before she could wipe the drool dribbling down her chin, a hand shot forward and covered her mouth. Her head pressed into the mattress from the force of the action, her yelp of pain muffled into the palm pinning her down.

She thrashed in alarm, but she might as well have been doing nothing. Her fists and feet met only air.

She couldn't see her attacker. With her curtains closed, the dark was blinding, and her pupils, blown from sleep, were becoming blurry from the rush of adrenaline racing through her veins.

She bit down and tasted leather. A glove. She clawed at it anyway, digging her nails into the naked arm holding her down. The man, judging it was a man from the thick hair on his arms, muttered a curse and clamped a cloth on her nose with his other hand.

Anna fought all the more, panic screaming in her mind from the lack of room to breathe. The thin stream of air she was able to get was strangely sweet smelling. Her limbs grew heavy, and her struggles dulled to a mild squirm. She wanted to scream when her eyelids threatened to close, but the sudden lull of sleep overpowered her, and she fell into blackness.

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><p><strong>I was going to add the next chapter to this one <em>buuut<em>...cliffhanger was too tempting to pass up *muahahaha***

**The lack of Elsa will be avenged. **

**Hope ya enjoyed.**

**-REKA**


	3. Not in Arendelle Anymore

**Decided to dish this out since responses to the first too chapters were so good:) Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.**

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><p><em>Fear is a prison<em>, Anna would tell herself, but that didn't make the fear go away. It was as much a part of her day as stale bread and the blisters on her toes after a long day of walking the hard, rutted road.

She thought she had known what it meant to be afraid, but she learned better on the end of a rope leash. Two days her captors made her walk before her legs gave out beneath her, too tired and malnourished to take another step.

They put her on a horse, but she would have preferred walking till the bones of her ankles grated the ground.

Her fingers tingled from lack of circulation, the tweed rope tying her to the saddle horn biting bloody rivets into her wrists. She pulled herself forward in the saddle, but the bandit sharing her seat pulled her back against his half-leather, half-armored chest.

She grimaced as every rock of their horse rubbed their lower regions together. He practically purred in her ear at the teasing friction, and his hand around her waist kneaded her hip.

She wished she didn't have to say she grew used to it. They took turns riding behind her like she was some exquisite ride.

They took her gag out the day before. Her winces and yelps from their groping provided endless entertainment for them. Even if she were to scream, no one would hear her this far into the North Mountains.

Wherever they were taking her, they were in a rush to get there. They had been traveling almost non-stop, stopping only when it was too dark to see and rising before the sun. It was a hard schedule for her body to keep even without having to walk till her feet bled, but the four men keeping her captive seemed to be used to it. They were mercenaries judging from their brutish armor and weapons and lack of sigil. Being such a large kingdom, Arendelle had enemies that would pay men's weight in gold to get their hands on her to ransom land and power from her father.

The sun dipped below the horizon, and Anna shivered from the bone-deep chill unique to the Northern Mountains. Every day felt like winter, and she vaguely thought about how much longer it would take until her toes and fingers began to snap off.

The horses turned off road into the thick of the forest. Pale white birch trees surrounded them like quartz pillars, the dark green grass below them littered with open patches of ground. The man behind her reined their horse to a stop, and he and his other three companions dismounted to set up camp. She shivered longingly as they unrolled their furs and pulled their coats closer around their bodies, but she refused to let her weakness show.

She was the Princess of Arendelle, and the last thing she had was her dignity.

Her bonds were cut from the saddle horn, and she was dragged off by the arm. She collapsed on the cold dirt hard enough for the breath to knock out of her. Sausage-thick fingers gripped her upper arms and yanked her to her shaky feet.

"There, Morgan," one of the men mumbled, pointing to a sizable birch on the opposite side of camp. She was half-dragged, half-carried to the spot and dropped at the base of the tree. Her arms wretched behind her, and she bit back a cry of pain when rope was once again pulled taunt around her wrists.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand ran up the inside of her thigh. Her lip trembled and she leaned back into the tree, hoping she could somehow grow into the bark.

Morgan gave her a yellow grin. "Come now, don't be shy, sunshine…What happened to my fiery saddle gal?" he husked, his dirty calloused hand raising higher. He laughed when she averted her eyes and begrudgingly submitted herself to the treatment, the bruises on her face and stomach still stinging enough to remind her that struggle would get her nowhere.

His hand was kicked away by one of his companions. "Oi, you know the rules. No touching," he said.

_Much_, Anna thought. _No touching _much. Of course they touched, but the gods were merciful in not letting them go further.

The brunette who interrupted her molestation, Ulfric she believed his name was, glued his eyes to the tears in her corset, the gleam in his gaze making her cross her legs and curl up defensively. "If we could, I'd 'ave first dibs," he mumbled, a sadistic smirk scarring his face.

The two men thankfully lumbered away, one going to tie up the horses and the other walking into the forest for god knows what.

Soon, they had a fire blazing, their sleeping blankets close to the flame and their palms swallowing its warmth. When the wind blew towards her, Anna could feel a wisp of its heat lick over her face before her body resumed shivering.

Karl stumbled towards her, a middle-aged man with a balding head charged with the chore of giving her nutriment. Or lack thereof.

By the light of the fire, she could see the unnatural red his face had blossomed to. He grumbled at a rock and he smiled stupidly when he took another swig of the bottle in his hand, some of its liquid contents dribbling down his wiery beard.

He meant to kneel but rather fell to his knees beside her, bottle in hand. He thrust it into her face and grunted, waiting for her to drink.

Anna shrunk back at the smell. That wasn't water.

Karl snarled when she shied away from the bottle. He grabbed her chin with greasy fingers and squeezed her jaw. When she opened her mouth in a cry of pain, he shoved the neck of the bottle into her mouth, the glass hitting the back of her throat making her gag.

Anna squirmed in her bonds, her legs kicking. She tried to pull away, but Karl grabbed a fistful of her hair to hold her in place and tilted her head back.

Tears streamed from her eyes and her throat burned as the scorching liquid burned down her throat. She coughed and sputtered and her teeth clanked painfully against the glass. She tried to breathe, but the liquid pushing at the back of her throat kept her from stopping.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

The bottle was ripped from her mouth, and Anna coughed up a quart of liquid from her lungs. Her mouth tasted awful and her throat felt like it was bleeding. Nausea clung to her mind like a thick blanket from the alcohol pooling in her empty stomach.

Karl lay on his back from where Ulfric kicked him, giggling and rolling like a turtle stuck on its back. Ulfric quickly picked up the dropped bottle, trying to salvage it contents from spilling out on the ground. "That's my vodka, ya drunk bastard!" he bellowed, kicking Karl in the side.

The momentum of the kick rolled Karl onto his stomach. He climbed to all fours and his body lurched like a cat spitting a hairball as he emptied his stomach on the ground. Bile rose in Anna's throat, and she looked away and held her breath, desperately trying not to throw-up as well.

Across the camp, Morgan and her other captor laughed. Ulfric grabbed the back of Karl's coat and dragged him to his sleeping blanket, the drunkard falling to sleep the second his head hit the hide.

The remaining three talked and ate, the alcohol running freely and their laughter echoing in the night. One of them had caught a rabbit, and Anna's stomach cramped with hunger when she smelled the cooked flesh and heard the sizzle of fat dripping down the meat.

Anna watched them fall asleep, a luxury she was denied with the pain in her body keeping her awake. Luckily the vodka helped dull her mind to it. And she liked to think that she was in a dream. Her head lolled side to side of its own accord, and her vision was reduced to a blur of colors.

Crickets chirped somewhere in the distance, and the wind whistled through the trees and rattled their leaves so calmly that it almost sounded like music.

She jumped when something cold brushed her across her hands. Her muscles tensed like stone with fear, and she opened her mouth to scream. She could care less if Ulfric or one of the others beat her for waking them up so long as she didn't get bitten by a snake.

A cold hand from behind her clamped her mouth shut, her teeth narrowly missing her tongue. She froze under the unexpected touch.

"_Shhh…_" a voice hushed, the warmth of its breath tickling past her ear.

Anna's mind went into overdrive. She didn't see any of the men get up. One of them must have snuck behind her to have her to themselves. Molesting her apparently wasn't enough anymore.

She bit down hard, and copper blood sprayed over her tongue. Her attacker pulled back with a wince, but before they could shut her up again, she screamed on instinct, not caring if it wouldn't do her any good.

Her captors jumped out of their beds, hands scrambling for weapons and wide eyes rapidly blinking out sleep.

They turned towards her, the look on their faces making her wish she had just kept her mouth shut. Ulfric strode forward. "You're gonna regret that, you little bitch!" Anna curled in on herself when he swung his arm back to strike her.

He paused before the downward stroke, his eyes blinking dumbly at something behind her. "Who the hell are y—"

Something pounced at him, it's fist crashing into his face. Whatever he was about to say turned into a yelp of pain and a crack of bone before his body slumped to the ground, unconscious.

_What the hell?!_

Anna watched with blurry eyes as her remaining captors struggled to fight off their attacker. All she could see were silhouettes from the fire. A black figure quick as a shadow danced around the three of them like a leaf in the wind, striking blows and dodging attacks.

Anna's head fell against her chest, and her breathing caught to an astounding rate, her vision going double imaged. She heard the men's yelps of pain somewhere between the drumming of her pulse.

And beneath it all, a familiar magical hum and growl.

Before Anna knew it, there was silence. Her heart pounded like a dozen horses stomping on her chest, and the fire cracked and spat somewhere in front of her.

The ropes fell from her wrists. Her numb body fell forward without the ropes keeping her up, but a pair of hands gently caught her shoulders. Anna swallowed dryly in an attempt to quell her breathing, but ended up in a fit of dry coughs.

She thought she heard a voice, but it was like it was speaking to her through water.

_Am I dreaming?_

Yes. That had to be it. She was back in her bed in the castle, and Gerda would be knocking at her door any minute to tell her she overslept again.

Surely she would wake up from this nightmare.

An arm curling around her back and beneath her knees carefully picked her up. She was too tired to be scared anymore. She imagined she was floating.

Her body was cradled bridal style, and she let her head fall onto the strangely warm chest she felt to her right. She curled closer to the source of heat and hugged her hands under her chin. Her fingers tingled painfully from the blood rushing back to them.

Anna's consciousness slipped away, the calm thumping by her ear lulling her to sleep.

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><p><strong>Thoughts?:3<strong>

**-REKA**


	4. The Deal

**By Odin's Beard, another update? I must be mad.**

**P.S. This is rated M for a reason...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen**.

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><p>The horrid taste in her mouth was the first thing Anna noticed when she woke up.<p>

She smacked her dry lips together at the foreign taste, a thick coat of something terrible lining her mouth and sticking to her teeth. It tasted like a mixture of black liquorish and cough syrup.

She sucked at the disgusting film and begrudgingly swallowed it down, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth. She groaned and turned on her side to bury her face in her pillow. She inhaled deeply, and she was pleasantly surprised at how great it smelled. It wasn't laden with the herbs and perfumes usually used to clean her things. Not that those were bad, but this was fantastic. It was a fresh, earthy scent that smelled like breathing in sunshine.

Her mind began to fuzz as her dreams picked up where they left off, but the cramping in her stomach forced her awake. _Need food_, she thought blearily. She pushed herself up on an elbow and stretched her jaw in a foul-smelling yawn, courtesy of the taste in her mouth. Her eyes itched from sleep, so she rubbed at them with her fists. Her lighter than usual blankets slid down her side and bunched at her waist.

Then she opened her eyes.

_What. The. Hell._

To say she was confused was the understatement of the century if not the millennia. She was in a room, a tiny room that a person her height could cross wall to wall in only a few strides.

Anna sat up in her bed, her fur blanket sliding to her hips. She reached behind her and felt the wall. Her eyes widened disbelievingly when her hand pulled away moist black soil. She looked across the room and found her disbelief proven false by the sunlight pouring through a wide hole in the corner of the ceiling.

The room was underground.

_How the hell did I get he—_

Then she remembered. The castle, the bandits, the walking, her rescuer...

She looked down at her beaten wrists, tweed scars and green bruises covering the joints like repulsive bracelets. It hurt to flex a fist, but not bad enough to not do it. She looked oddly pale, which was weird for her because she was such a naturally tan person. The foreign glow of cleanliness pulsing through her body led her to find the washbasin next to her bed. A wet rag hung off the side dripping water onto the floor. Dark clumps of mud floated at the rim of the murky grey water like black lillipads.

A metal clang made her look to the side. A woman squatted next to a fireplace and hung a beat-up pot on a metal rung over the flame.

The woman did not look like a vanilla Arendellian. She couldn't be more than a few years older than she was, but her hair was as pale as an elder's if not more so. Held in a low ponytail, it curled down her back and shone like spun silver. Her clothes hung loosely to her body and looked more like abused burlap than cloth. Her shirt was a rough-spun tanktop with arm holes large enough to show the cloth wrapping around her chest when she bent forward, and her pants, more like capris since they were too short, were torn and fringed at the seams. Her feet and ankles were wrapped in strips of cloth in place of shoes. Her skin was as pale and clear as marble, and Anna could catch a glimpse of angled face and blown back bangs.

Anna blinked slowly. Her memory was fuzzy, but she pieced together that this must have been the person who saved her. Her first instinct was to thank her, but her recent experiences made her wary.

Her stomach had other plans. It growled like an awoken bear, and Anna reflexively wrapped her hands around her middle to shut it up.

The woman's head snapped around at the sound. Anna's breath caught in her throat.

It was those eyes again. Those icy eyes that stood out against pale complexion and shone eerily in the firelight.

Anna instinctively flinched back like an animal trying to make itself small in front of its predator. Her hand curled to her chest and her shoulders rose to her ears. Where her pants rose up from her squatting position, Anna found a thick scar wrapping around the woman's ankle. Her wrists and palms were wrapped in cloth like her feet.

The blonde stood up and looked down at her. She was only a few feet away, and if Anna wanted, she could have reached out her foot and touched her. The woman's face was a set look of stone-like stoicness. Her stare was a cross between a disinterested cat and a tiger about to pounce its prey. Anna could feel her icy blues burning holes into her frightened pupils, but she was too frightened to look away.

Anna leaned back into the wall. Her breathing was even and her heart was calm, but her muscles tensed to almost cramping. She was too terrified to be scared. She felt like she was with a bear in its cave. Maybe if she acted calm, it would go away.

The blonde held her gaze for a while longer before she turned away. She picked up a leather bag hanging from a jutting stone in the fireplace and took three strides to the hole that served as the exit. She looped the bag over her shoulders and swiftly climbed the ladder steps that were carved into the wall.

There was a sliding noise, a thud, and then silence, the crack and spit of the fire the only noise in the room.

Anna clutched a hand over her heart. Her breathing picked up when the gravity of her situation crashed into her.

She was sharing a den with a lion.

She kicked off the blankets and ran across the room to follow where her new captor disappeared. Her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw the thick bars of ice sealing her in.

"Nononono…" She knew it wouldn't do any good, but she climbed up and tugged at the bars anyways. They were harder than stone and slicker than glass. She pulled until her shoulder ached. "No! You can't do this to me!" she yelled, but whether her grief was directed to fate, the gods, or the woman was anyone's guess.

She climbed back down to the dark earth of the room floor. She winced when her feet hit the ground, and she noticed that her walk-torn feet were wrapped in neat bandages.

Then it clicked. The blonde saved her. She washed her. She cleaned her wounds. Why?

_If she wants me for something, I guess I'm no use to her dead_, she thought solemnly. _Unless she regrets letting me go and wants to finish the job. She could just be playing with me before she kills me. Like how a cat plays with a mouse._

Anna sighed. She just exchanged one noose for another.

The redheaded princess looked around the room. As long as her captor was away, she may as well snoop around. It wasn't like she had anything to lose.

There wasn't much in the room. Just a bed, a fireplace, and a deer-hide rug in the center. On the wall opposite the bed was a dresser. At least, what was supposed to be a dresser. It was nothing more than a few holes dug out of the wall.

Anna leaned down to look into the earthen compartments. Most of them were empty, but some of them held rolls of furs. One had fire wood and spits. The holes at the top had woven baskets in them that mimicked drawers.

Anna quirked an eyebrow as she browsed the contents of the mock dresser. Everything was strangely…very organized. Flints were arranged in size pairs, furs were stacked by color and type, a lone pair of clothes was folded perfectly unwrinkled…

Anna looked around the room. It was weird too. The pile of rough stones that made the slanted fireplace were cut nearly as perfectly as the one in her bedroom in the castle and stacked with painstaking precision. Dried plants and herbs hung in orderly fashion from sticks wedged between the rocks as well as other hide bags and sacks. The bed was a rise of sculpted earth with angles as straight as those carved to make the walls.

_Jeez_, she thought. _Someone needs a hobby. _It was weird to see how organized and…normal the woman was when just a few short days ago she was ready to tear out her throat. It was actually fairly cozy. The air was thick with earth and herbs, and the fire heated the room to a pleasant temperature that made her want to sleep.

_Well, at least it's not skulls and bones lying around an ice cave._

Anna opened another drawer. When she found a waterskin lying at the front, she grabbed it with speed enough to rival even the best pickpocket. She tossed her head back and chugged it down, the liquid life pouring down her throat and tasting finer than any delicacy she ever had. Some of it ran down her chin and down her neck and soaked into the collar of her dress. Its coolness was a comforting contrast to the warmth of the room.

She only stopped drinking when she was sure she sucked out every last drop. Her belly swelled uncomfortably, but at least her tongue was no longer a shriveling raisin sticking to her mouth.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and put the waterskin back. She rummaged around the drawers, looking if there was any food stored near.

She carelessly tossed around items, not bothering to keep the order that her captor must have painstakingly created. She felt something cold brush her hand at the bottom of the basket, and her eyebrows rose to her hairline when she wrapped her hand around it and realized what it was.

_A knife. _

She pulled it out. It was a small skinning knife that looked more like a pointed butter knife, but it was a weapon nonetheless.

She slowly closed the drawer, the gears in her mind working. She walked over to the bed and plopped down with her eyes glued to the weapon.

_I could…but what use would it be against magic? _

Sounds from the entrance pulled Anna from her thoughts, and she thrust her hand under her pillow just as her blonde captor dropped in a crouch on the floor, landing almost without a sound. She glided across the room without sparing Anna glance. Anna's body tensed and a bolt of fear shot down her spine when she opened one of the drawers and began rummaging items between it and the bag she was carrying.

_Damn. If she finds out I went through her stuff, she'll skin me alive!_

Anna gripped the hilt of the knife tighter in her hand. If she was going to act she would have to act now. She would probably never get a chance with her captor's back turned like this again.

She shuffled her feet. Sneaking wasn't an option with her clumsiness. If she moved, she would have to move fast. It was only a few strides away.

Bile rose in Anna's throat at the thought of killing someone. _I don't have to kill her…just…_

_What, hold her at knife point? Yeah that'll work out great. _

The woman opened another drawer. Anna's muscles tensed when the blonde paused and cocked her head to the side in confusion.

Anna freaked. So she lunged, knife high in the air to stab her in the back.

The blonde spun around and caught her wrist in a flicker of movement that was almost too fast to see. Anna winced when her fingers dug into the bruises already on her wrist.

The woman stared down at her with that same stoic expression. She slowly blinked her eyes over to regard the knife in her hand. She tilted her head back and arched a delicate eyebrow at the redhead frozen in her grasp. _Seriously?_ Anna practically heard her say, almost as if she were amused by her futile attempt.

Something about that look sparked a fire in her stomach. That condescending, arrogant look that she received so frequently from snobbish royalty just utterly pissed her off coming from the blonde.

Anna grit her teeth and swung her free fist to beat the metaphorical smirk off her face. Her anger only grew when her other wrist was grabbed with the same ease as the first.

The corners of the woman's lips tilted down in a frown. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance like her father's did when he had enough of her antics.

Anna squeaked in pain when a cold hand squeezed her wrist with the knife, the pain from her bruises flaring terribly. She tried to pull away, but the woman squeezed harder on the bruises until the knife fell from her hand and thudded to the floor.

Anna fumed. Her face heated redder than her hair. She kicked the woman's shin with the back of her heel in retaliation.

The blonde gasped in unexpected pain and bounced her weight to her other leg until the sting in her shin subsided. Her wide eyes stared down at Anna with the most unbelieving expression she had ever seen.

Anna smirked victoriously, her smugness completely inappropriate given her position disabled in the hands of a magical savage. But nonetheless, the brief victory felt worth it.

The woman straightened up to leer over her, her eyes narrowing dangerously and a growl rumbling from deep in her throat.

Anna couldn't decide wither she was too stupid or too desensitized to be afraid at that moment as she pulled her leg back to deliver another kick. Gods and death be damned, she was not going to be anyone's plaything any longer.

Her drawn back foot stumbled to catch herself when the woman pushed her backwards, her wrists still firmly in her grip. Anna backpedaled until her the back of her thighs hit the side of the bed. Her breath wheezed out of her lungs like a smith's bellow when the woman pressed her down against the blankets.

Her wrists were pinned down beside her head, and her lower half hung off the bed. She kicked her legs, and she blushed and thrashed harder when she felt the blonde leaning against her from in-between her thighs.

The woman hovered her face inches away from hers, her face back to its unsettling stoicness.

Anna jutted her head forward for a head-butt, but the woman dodged to the side without a second thought. The redhead arched her body and tugged uselessly at her wrists. She grunted and seethed when her efforts didn't loosen the woman's grip. She barely even budged. Anna may as well have been trying to drag a lame horse.

"Get off me!" she snarled through gritted teeth, her frustration festering to anger. "_Let me go_, dammit!"

Surprisingly, she did.

Anna scrambled to the wall and curled her legs to her chest the second the woman released her wrists, trying to distance herself as far away as possible. The blonde just stood there looking as if nothing had happened.

"What do you want?!" Anna yelled, her voice squeaking.

The woman hardly winced. "You can stop yelling. I'd like to keep my hearing," she calmly replied, her tone as calm as if they were talking about the weather but her voice hoarse and rusty like a sickly person from lack of use.

Anna blinked incredulously. _This_ was the animal that attacked her? This arrogant clean-freak? Anna almost asked her to make sure they were the same person, but the scar on her ankle was enough evidence to prove the unbelievable.

Anna curled closer around herself. "If you're going to kill me, then just do it," she spat. "I don't have time for any more mind games."

The blonde crossed her arms. "I'm not going to kill you."

"Then why are you keeping me here?"

"Who said I was keeping you?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe the ice caging me in?" She flung her arm towards the corner of the room.

The woman didn't even flinch. "My apologies. Would you like a bear to drop in for tea?"

Anna's next retort caught in her throat. "Oh…," she mumbled softly. She averted her gaze and shuffled in her seat, her face hot from embarrassment and her brow furrowed in confusion. "Then why did you…?"

The woman rolled her eyes and walked back to the dresser, her arms falling to her sides. She rummaged a few more things out of the drawer and put them into the bag before tying the top. "Just getting even," she said. She threw the bag in Anna's lap. "But now my debt is paid. You know where the door is."

"Wait!" Anna squeaked when the woman turned away. She scrambled off the bed like an excited kitten and joined her at the dresser. "How did you find me out here?"

The blonde ignored her. She looked at the ruined contents of her drawer and sighed before beginning to re-stack and re-organize everything.

Anna hugged the bag to her chest like a teddybear. "Did you follow me from Arendelle? Well, I guess _I_ technically followed _you_ since you live here. Speaking of which, why do you live underground? It's so tiny in here. And not very light. Not that it's entirely bad. It is pretty home-y."

The woman closed her eyes and took a calming breath before picking up a flint and putting it with its pair.

"It's kindof like a mole home. Or a rabbit home." Anna laughed, trying and failing to hide the sound behind her hand. "Sorry, but you would be a cute rabbit. You have the perfect hair for it. It's very fluffy. But I don't know about the growling and ice and stuff. You'd be more like a really aggressive hermit rabbit. Yeah. That sounds right."

The blonde groaned and dropped the fur in her cloth-wrapped palm. She grabbed Anna by the shoulders, spun her around, and walked her towards the tunnel exit. She stopped her by the ladder and even gave her a nudge forwards. She deadpanned, rubbing her temples in frustration when Anna just stood there hugging the bag.

"Or maybe you're like half-wolf? Or bear? Or both? Or maybe a—"

Anna was cut off when the world around her dipped and spun, and when she opened her eyes she found the dirt floor getting further away from her. "Hey!" Anna protested, beating her fist against the blonde's back. She tried to kick as well, but an arm holding the back of her knees kept them still. "Put me down!"

Sunlight hit her back as well as a bone-deep chill, and Anna screamed when she found herself suddenly falling. The woman's shoulder dug into her stomach painfully when they landed on the ground.

Anna looked up.

_A tree?_

The tunnel that served as a door was actually just the hollow of a large tree. It looked long dead, but its roots were still holding it in the ground. A pile of stones leaned against it where the fireplace let out.

The woman deposited her on the ground. "You could've warned me. I've had enough of being manhandled, thank you," Anna huffed.

The bag was shoved into her hands, and when Anna looked up, the woman was already halfway back to the tree.

"What? Wait!" she yelled. "I-I don't know how to get back to Arendelle!" she cried despairingly. She may as well just continue into the mountains until she reached the next kingdom over. There were absolutely no towns separating the North Mountains from Arendelle's capital. The land was treacherous, and the natural barrier the snow peaks provided was a tactical advantage in case they were attacked.

The woman pointed into the distance. "Go that way for a few days and you'll be fine."

"Can I at least stay the night? It's getting dark, and those men could still be around…"

"No. I cleared my debt. You freed me I freed you. End of story. Goodbye."

"Wait, please, I'll…I'll do anything, please" Anna said desperately.

The woman didn't even turn around. "No offense, but there is nothing I want that you can give me."

Anna grasped the bag in her hands, her mind desperately searching to somehow persuade her to let her stay the night. There was no way in hell she would let those men take her again, and her chances of surviving the night were single digits. If the freeze didn't kill her, then the wild animals would.

Then it came to her.

_"I can make them stop hunting you!"_

The woman paused in min-step. For a long minute she stayed like that, contemplating whether or not to turn around. A bead of sweat ran down Anna's face.

"Crow…," Anna began slowly. "The man hunting you. I can make him stop."

The woman turned towards her, her brow angled distrustfully.

Anna swallowed thickly. "I'm Princess Anna, heiress to the kingdom of Arendelle and future protector of the Northern Realm and commander of the White Sea. I can do that kind of thing."

The woman's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she strode over to Anna with the speed and red fury of a charging bull. The redhead leaned back uncomfortably at the sudden close proximity, but a cold hand grabbing a fistful of her dress collar pulled her forwards. The woman leered inches in front of her, her eyes dark and a threatening growl rumbling deep in her chest. "And why shouldn't I just kill the daughter of the tyrant who has made my life a living hell?" she snarled.

Anna gulped, her throat bobbing against the blonde's frosting fist. Probably not the best idea to tell her that she was related to the man employing her hunter. But this wasn't the time to be scared. She was trained to negotiate.

"My father is not a tyrant," she said with careful slowness. "And I know you won't kill me. You wouldn't have gone through the trouble of saving me if you were just going to kill me."

"I did that because I was indebted to you."

"You did it because you have a conscience," Anna retorted, her face a political mask. "You try to appear heartless, but your actions say otherwise. If your heart was as frozen as you pretend, you would have left me there. But you didn't because _you_ couldn't stand not being able to return the favor."

_Well, she is a killer. But at least she's not ruthless. Or serial. I hope..._

The woman snarled. "You know nothing about me."

"I know enough. Now are you going to help me or not?"

The woman gave her a lasting glare before she tore gaze away, her hand releasing the deathgrip on her dress. If she were a cat, her tail would have been twitching and her ears flatted against her skull.

_Ha! Who's playing mind games now?_

Anna tried to keep her face straight while her stomach bubbled a mix of relief, happiness, and pride. She couldn't believe how she was able to flip the tables so fast. She began the beggar, but now she held the cards.

_Is this what Papa feels like in his negotiations?_ she thought. _Because it's twistedly awesome._

She decided to push the point home. "Help me, and you can live in your…_tree_ peacefully for the rest of your life. No more traps."

The blonde crossed her arms and shifted her weight on her feet. "And what, I'd be your guide back to Arendelle?"

"Pretty much."

The woman stared unblinkingly into her eyes for a long minute before sighing. "Fine."

The blonde flinched back defensively when Anna squealed and bounced. "Yes!" She laughed and lunged forward, hugging her arms tightly around the woman. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

The woman froze, her arms held down to her sides by the redhead squeezing her torso like a boa constrictor. Her freckled face burrowed into her shoulder, and she felt the smaller woman's laughs bonce against her chest.

Anna's laughs receded when she felt the warmth she was hugging only seconds before turn ice cold. Goosebumps popped to her skin. Realizing what she was doing, she jumped back, eyes wide.

Anna wanted to reach out some sort of condolence for her actions, but she ended up just rubbing the back of her neck and blushing apologetically. "Haha…Sorry. I got a bit carried away there…"

The woman was frozen where she stood. Her tilted head, risen shoulders, and curled fingers looked like they were stiff from rigor mortis. If a wind blew by, it was highly likely the blonde would fall and clatter like a metal pole hitting marble.

"I ugh…I never caught your name," Anna asked, leaning close to make sure the woman was okay. She didn't appear to be breathing, and if it was possible, she seemed to have gotten even paler.

Blue eyes blinked rapidly when Anna bent into her vision. "…Elsa," she choked out, somewhat out of her tense state.

"Elsa," Anna repeated, tasting the word glide over her tongue. "It's a very pretty name."

Elsa's eyes flicked up to hers before quickly darting away. She cleared her throat and looked like she was about to say something, but she just turned and walked back towards the tree.

Anna blinked curiously and followed.

Elsa stopped abruptly in front of the tree, and Anna nearly ran into her. "Get on my back," she said.

"What?"

The blonde looked over her shoulder. "Unless you can jump ten feet, I suggest you get on my back."

"Oh. Right."

Anna stepped forward and reached her hands on Elsa's shoulders. She blushed. "Could you, um, squat down a bit?"

"Hm?"

"You're kindof tall…"

Elsa bent down as requested and Anna climbed on, looping her arms around her neck and linking her legs around her waist like a baby koala on its mother's back. Elsa began the climb back up, ice materializing for handholds and footholds.

It was a bit tricky getting back into the tunnel. Anna climbed around Elsa, insisting she could get in by herself, but the blonde ended up having to basically pick her up by the scruff of her dress to get her to the ladder.

Anna shooed away Elsa's assistance, a decision she soon regretted. The strong hold on the steps that she thought she had proved to be faulty, and one slip later, she was a heap of sprawled limbs on the dirt floor.

Anna rubbed the back of her head as Elsa landed gracefully beside her like a cat on four legs. "Great," she heard the blonde mumble. Before Anna could ask what was wrong, Elsa knelt by her foot and examined the bandage sloughing off her scabbed foot. She sighed. "Just sit over there. I'll fix it," she said, pointing towards the fire.

Anna limped across the room and plopped to the floor with a wince, thankful for the heat of the fire. She didn't realize how much the bandage was helping sooth her pain until she tried walking on where it fell off.

Elsa rummaged an extra waterskin from the drawers and picked down some of the shriveled green and yellow herbs hanging from the fireplace. She sat cross-legged by Anna's feet. She materialized an ice bowl in her hand with a flick of her wrist. She poured in some water and tossed in some leaves before grinding it up with another duller piece of ice.

Anna winced when she wiped off the old salve and applied the new. It stung like salt on the wounds, but the cold of Elsa's hands helped to numb the pain.

She looked down to watch Elsa work. The blonde dipped two fingers in the bowl and curled inside to scoop up the paste. She slowly rubbed it up and down her foot, the touch light but firm and never staying in one place for long.

Anna shook her head to keep her mind from nosediving into the gutter.

Elsa scooted forward and lifted Anna's foot onto her knee for better access. Anna expected it to be cold, but it wasn't. It was normal. Warmer than normal actually.

"Why are you hot?" Anna asked.

Elsa paused and looked up. "Hm?"

Anna sputtered. "I-I mean..ugh…" Her face was practically steaming. "Your hands. T-They're the only part of you that's cold. Well, normally. Why is that?"

Elsa wiped her fingers on her pants before wrapping the redhead's foot in a fresh piece of cloth. "Maybe it's because I can shoot ice out of them."

_Ouch._

Anna couldn't tell if the sarcasm was intended or not, but it still stung. It came out so normally and naturally that it sounded like a default, but then again, isolation would make a person rather blunt.

Once Elsa was done with her foot, she knelt over the stones by the fire. She coated her hands in ice to pick up the pot cooking over the flame and placed it carefully on the earth beside her. She dissipated the ice on her hands and conjured two cups, filling both with the pot's steamy liquid via an ice ladle.

_Well, that's convenient. At least she doesn't have to do dishes. _

"Is your ice heat-resistant?" Anna asked.

Elsa threw the ladle into the fire. "No. It just takes a while to melt." She picked up the two cups and handed one to Anna. "Drink. It'll help you heal." Elsa lifted her own cup to her lips and emptied it in a few quick gulps before throwing it into the fire.

Anna brought the cup to her face and gave the steaming drink a tentative sniff. It smelled like spices and vanilla. "What is it?"

"Hurry up and drink before it melts."

Not wasting another second, Anna tossed her head back and poured the liquid down her throat, trying to drink it as quickly as Elsa did. The temperature felt perfect with the heat of the drink and the coolness of the melting ice mixing together.

The temperature tango made her take a second to actually taste it.

Anna spewed the liquid from her mouth and threw the cup into the fire with a fourth of its demonic contents still inside. It tasted worst then the medicine Gerda forced down her throat back at the castle.

"Whath isth that stuff?!" Anna demanded, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She furiously rubbed it on the inside of her sweaty sleeve. The dirt that wiped onto her tastbuds tasted heavenly in comparison.

Elsa arched an eyebrow. "It's not that bad. You had no trouble with it when you were unconscious."

Anna spat into the fire. "So that's why it tasted like I'd eaten leather." She spat again. "You've been feeding me rotten grass water."

Elsa rolled her eyes. She reached into the bag she had given Anna earlier and tossed her a small sac. Anna pulled the string at the top to open it and found it filled with berries, nuts, and salted meats. She almost cried at the sight. She grabbed a handful and stuffed the food into her starving maw, desperate from both hunger and the bad taste in her mouth. Crumbs dribbled onto her chest but she didn't pay them any mind.

"Eat and get some sleep," Elsa said, pointing to the bed. "We're going to be doing a lot of walking tomorrow."

Anna paused mid-chew to ask her where she would sleep if she took the bed, but Elsa was already walking away. She picked up a large hide sack and began filling it with items from the drawers to prepare for their journey.

Anna resumed her eating, thoughts about what the next day would bring chasing around in her head.

* * *

><p><strong>Hehehe now the REAL fun can begin...<strong>

**-REKA**


	5. Falling With You

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.**

* * *

><p>Elsa bent a low-hanging pine branch out of her face. The wrappings on her hands kept the sharp needles on the branch from cutting her palms, and those on her feet dulled the point of jutting stones and stray sticks. It was hard to see the ground this late in the day. At least, it would be for Anna, she supposed. Humans couldn't see well in the dark.<p>

They had left early that morning, avoiding as many main roads as they could and staying only to where Elsa's memory and sense of direction guided them. If Anna had any complaints, she didn't voice them. Elsa carried the bag of supplies for their journey. She could've divided the weight into two smaller bags, but she didn't trust Anna not to lose anything.

"...But then Kristoff caught the pig for me and brought it back to the castle. It was such a poor waste of pie," rambled the redhead trailing close behind her as she carefully followed in her footsteps. Elsa held the branch higher as Anna ducked under it, her hands holding tightly to the inside of the fur cloak that she gave her that morning. "And they didn't even thank us! We should have at least gotten out of paying for some of the damages…"

Elsa groaned. Anna's mind was a web of random thoughts and she was the unfortunate fly caught in the middle.

She released the branch and continued down the slope. They would have to make camp as soon as they found an area flat enough to lay on.

The sudden appearance of a freckled face in front of her brought Elsa to an abrupt halt. She choked on her breathe and froze. Anna leaned close to her, her brow angled in concentration over her wide eyes and her lips pursed.

Elsa blinked in confusion. She leaned away, but Anna just leaned closer.

"What color are my eyes…?" she asked slowly, her words drawling together.

Elsa arched an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Answer the question."

"Ugh…" Elsa muttered. She tucked her chin to her chest self-consciencely at their close proximity. "…Greenish bluish."

Anna's eyes narrowed. "Hmmm…" She stood on her tiptoes to lean impossibly closer, but she still couldn't get past Elsa's nose level. "Are you _sure_ they aren't grey?"

Elsa deadpanned. Her mouth opened to question the redhead before the question's meaning dawned on her. She glared down at Anna and growled, baring her teeth. "I am not colorblind," she snarled before shoving past her.

Anna jogged to catch up with her longer strides. "Hm. That knocks off dog. Are cats colorblind too? Maybe you're a badger."

Elsa groaned, the urge to pound her head into a tree becoming harder to resist with every word passing from Anna's mouth.

Anna put her hands on her hips. "This would be easier if you just told me."

Elsa turned around. "Why do you want to know? I'm not asking you anything," she said irritably.

"I know. That's the problem. I told you the game was that we each asked each other questions, but _you_ don't want to participate." Elsa rolled her eyes and continued down the slope. Anna followed. "But if there is anything you want to know, go ahead. Ask me."

They made it to a small ridge blocked by a dense cropping of bushes. Elsa materialized a large knife in her hand and hacked a path through them. "Is silence an option for you…" She kicked an uprooted bush to the side, and Anna watched it fall down the steep slope flanking their side. Elsa breathed heavily from the exertion and turned to the redhead. "…or is that too hard of a concept for you to understand?"

Anna's steps faltered, and she blushed in embarrassment. "Yes…I could. Sorry, I know I ramble a lot," she mumbled, looking away from her icy companion.

Elsa continued onward, savoring the silent hum of the wind and the soft rustle of the orange and red leaves in the trees. Their feet crunched piles of dead leaves underfoot.

"Is grey your favorite color?"

Elsa bit back a whimper._ Why me?_

"Not that I think you're colorblind. Well, not anymore. You just have a lot of grey things. Or maybe it's white. Brown? You have a lot of brown too. But brown is such a weird color to like. It's like wood and reindeer and stuff. Like Sven. Kristoff's favorite color is orange."

A frustrated growl tore from Elsa's throat. She spun on her heel and Anna took a tentative step back from the sudden movement. "Look, I don't care about any Joan or Kristoff or Sauron—"

"Sven."

"Whatever," she hissed. "Just…_please _be quiet. I would like to have at least a shred of my sanity when this is over."

Anna waved a hand dismissively. "Alright alright. Jeez. Don't get your panties in a wad."

Elsa's eye twitched. Who the hell did this girl think she was talking too? She could kill her easier than snapping a twig. _I can't tell if she's stupid or bra—No. Definitely stupid._

Elsa turned back to hide her snarl and shuffled down the hill.

"And I have a name ya know," Anna called as she climbed down after the blonde.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes. I know you have a name," she ground out.

"Then why don't you use it?"

"I haven't reason yet."

"Pfft. There have been plenty of reasons for you to use it." Anna squared her shoulders and sucked in a deep breath to puff out her chest. She spoke in an angry monotone voice. "'Oi, you, don't touch that' or 'You, don't wander too far' or 'You'll hurt yourself if you—"

Anna's foot caught on a root and tripped her down the slope. She wind-milled her arms to catch herself, but her momentum was already falling forward. Elsa didn't have time to react before the redhead barreled into her sending them both in a tangle of limbs to the bottom of the hill like a ball tumbling down the stairs.

Anna's breath wheezed out of her lungs when she landed at the bottom. She heard a groan from beneath her, and pale blonde hair bunched in her face. Her ears filled with a strange roar and her head swam with dizziness.

She opened her eyes and squinted. The strange roaring in her ears was coming from a river in front of them. Its water crashed against its bank as it rushed downstream at an alarming rate, its top covered in thick white foam. It was wider than the castle courtyard and was bordered by a few yards of grass and boulders.

Elsa growled beneath her, shooting the redhead on her back a glare from the corner of her eye.

Anna blushed. "Hehehe…Sorry."

Elsa pushed up on her elbows, forcing Anna to slide down her back. The smaller woman quickly scrambled off and shook off pebbles sticking to her cloak while Elsa got up. She could feel sticks in her hair and dirt coating her body, but Elsa looked worse off.

Elsa brushed off her clothes, a scowl scarring her face and an annoyed growl grumbling in her throat. She snatched up the bag of their supplies which had fallen to the side in their fall and collected its missing items off the ground.

"Sorry about that. I got a little distracted. Because I was talking. Which I should probably stop…since you asked me…" Anna hugged her arms behind her back and looked away.

Elsa paused to give her an annoyed glare that morphed to its stoic mask after a long sigh. "You okay?" she asked.

Anna looked up. "Wha? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. You made a nice cushion," she said. She scratched the back of her head and blushed, smiling apologetically.

Elsa grunted. She looked towards the stream and sniffed the air, her nostrils flaring. Her head whipped towards something in the water.

Before Anna could ask what she saw, Elsa placed down the bag of supplies on a boulder and slipped her tanktop over her head. She tossed it by the bag and untied the string belt on her pants before stepping out of them and throwing them with her shirt.

Anna's cheeks burned and her face steamed. "Wha-What are you doing?!" she squeaked.

Anna looked away, but her eyes dragged back to the blonde's body by some unseen force that she only half-hated. Elsa was a _goddess_. Her body was powerful muscle tenderly woven under ivory skin that looked both intimidating and uniquely feminine. She had a cloth wrapping around her chest and she wore sinfully tight undershorts that barely reached mid-thigh.

"I'm going fishing," she stated nonchalantly.

"N-Naked?" Anna squeaked.

"I'm not naked."

"Yes, you are! Those are underwear so yes you are naked. A-And don't you need a pole or a hook or something?"

"The salmon are running and you need to keep eating."

"We just ate a few hours ago."

"You're still malnourished."

"Aww you do care."

Elsa grunted. "I don't want to have to carry you if you feint."

"Can I help then?"

"No. Now just stay here and stay away from the water," she said finitely. Elsa turned away without giving Anna time to argue. She hopped onto one of the boulders at the river's edge and dove into the churning water.

Anna crossed her arms. "'Stay here' she says. 'You'll get in the way' she says." _Well, she didn't exactly say that, but the thought was there._ "I could catch a fish just as easy as she could. And I wouldn't scare them away either."

Anna kicked some pebbles before she plopped down on a rock and rested her face on her hands. It was a while until Elsa came up for air. Her head broke the surface for a handful of seconds and dove back soon after. It was impossible to see her through the water's foam, and even without it, the water was nearly black from the lack of sun. Anna held her breath to see if she could hold it as long as Elsa was underwater, but she failed miserably.

_Maybe she's part fish_, Anna thought as she waited for Elsa's head to pop out of the rushing water again. She shook her head. _Nah. That would be cannibalism then. Right?_

She watched Elsa continue her "fishing" for what felt like hours. _Maybe she's talking to them or something. Like, demanding a sacrifice to sate her hunger. _Again she shook her head. _God I'm bored…_

Anna's leg bounced impatiently. She sighed and shifted in her seat, quickly growing tired of staying in place and doing absolutely nothing. She looked upstream. The trees continued for as far as she could see, which wasn't really that far since it was nearly dark. The sky had changed from orange to purple and was now morphing to dark blue.

Something upstream caught her eye. She squinted at the black silhouette to see a cluster of bushes. The last of the sunlight shone off of the dull red berries hanging from their branches.

Anna jumped to her feet and strode over with a smile. _I'll show her. I am Anna, the Mighty Gatherer! Master of berries and mocker of fisherwomen!_

She stopped by the bushes and picked one of the berries, holding it close to her face. It looked like the kind that Elsa picked. Smelled like it too. _Better just wait for Elsa to check it out. I don't want 'death by berries' on my tombstone._

What started as a gathering of berries in her hand soon grew to a pile in the dip of her dress. She made trips back and forth between the bushes and the rock holding their supplies. She picked enough to feed them for days, but Elsa was still in the water and Anna was still bored, so she just kept picking.

Soon the berries were becoming hard to find from both darkness and scarcity. Anna winced when the bush's pointed leaves scratched her arm when she reached further in for berries.

"Ouch!" Anna squeaked when a sharp sting on her upper arm made her jump back from the bush. She dropped the berries in her dress and furiously brushed her coat and dress to get rid of whatever had stung her. A fat bumblebee flew out from her clothes. She glared at the retreating insect and cradled her swelling upper arm.

_Damn that hurts…_ The wound was quickly becoming a pulsing, warm beacon of pain. _I need something cold…_

Anna looked downstream to make sure Elsa was still underwater before making a dash for the riverside. She lifted her cloak and sleeve and all but shoved her arm into the water, sighing at the instant relief it brought to the sting. She shivered from the cold and craned her neck as far as she could to keep the water from lapping at her face. She was grateful no one was around. She must have looked ridiculous with her rear in the air and her body half-in the water.

She tensed her legs and steadied herself with her free hand. The current was stronger than she thought. She could barely keep her arm in without being swept away. _Elsa's probably used to it, _she thought, remembering the blonde's stunning physique. _And she's an ice lady, so I suppose the cold doesn't bother her._

Anna turned her head at the sound of a splash and watched Elsa's head pop out of the water. Her soaked platinum blonde hair looked grey in her ponytail as it stuck down her neck and muscled shoulders. She swam to shore with one hand, the other holding something close to her chest.

She held her upper body out of the water by her elbows at the riverside. A thin spike of ice formed on the flat surface of a nearby boulder. She struggled to hold onto the fish flopping in her hands as she tried to hook its lip on the spike. Her arms tensed to restrain its harsh flailing, and Anna could see her scowl in concentration.

The fish slipped from between her hands like a bar of soap. Elsa leaned and pawed at the air to catch it, but it flew over her head and landed with her in a splash back in the river. She came back up, shaking the water from her hair like a wet dog. Her lip curled in a snarl that Anna could hear from where she was, and she smacked the water angrily.

Anna laughed. _How can one person be so scary yet so childish? She's like a pouty five-year-o—_

A rouge wave crashed over Anna's head, its weight and force dragging her into the water. Her body froze and her breath wheezed out of her from the cold biting straight through to her bones. Anna scrambled to grab onto the shore, but the current was already taking her, and her dress and fur cloak were weighing her down like lead weights. She tried to kick her feet, but she found no traction.

Her head broke the surface long enough for her to let out a faint scream before water rushed into her mouth and down her airway. She coughed, but when her lungs looked for air from the recoil, they were filled with water. She opened her eyes, but all she could see was a swirling mass of silvery blackness.

* * *

><p><em>Damn fish<em>, Elsa thought as she smacked the water. Her legs kicked to keep her treading water against the harsh current.

Her ears twitched at the sound of a harsh splash. She whipped her head upstream at the sudden sound, but saw nothing out of the ordinary from the rushing water. She narrowed her eyes, suspicion instinctively resting over her mind.

She looked up and down the shoreline, the lack of a certain redhead turning her suspicion into concern. Her eyes widened in realization.

_She didn't—_

"AHH—!"

Elsa saw Anna's head disappear below the water just as she passed her, her scream ending in a gargling choking sound.

"Anna!" Elsa yelled, diving into the water after her.

Elsa swam with the current to push her downstream, years of experience allowing her to torpedo through the water. She reached to where she thought Anna would be and treaded water, her head swiveling around to find the redhead as the current continued to push her downstream.

She stopped at the fork in the stream made by a rift of a cliff and branchless logs. She climbed up one of the logs, nearly slipping on its slick bark, to get a vantage point. She leaned away from the log, her eyes furiously scanning the water.

She saw Anna flail out of the water for a gasp of breath before she was dragged back down into the water at her left.

Elsa's eyes widened. _No! Not that way!_

Elsa dove underwater without a moment to spare. She could just make out the shape of Anna's tumbling form as she was carried further and further away. They passed under the shadow of the cliff, and Elsa felt a bolt of fear shoot down her spine when Anna narrowly missed hitting a broken log protruding from a cluster of boulders.

Elsa kicked harder and forced her arms to their limit, steadily closing the distance between her and the redhead. Anna sunk underwater once again, and Elsa took a deep breath before plunging down after her. She grabbed Anna by the arm and dragged her up. They were just about to break the surface when they crashed into a stray boulder. Elsa yelped in pain as her back and head cracked against the hard surface, and she lost her grip.

Elsa broke the surface and gasped for air, looking around wildly for Anna. Gone was the grassy riverside, now she was flanked by two imposing cliffs of granite that leered over her. The water rushed faster with the addition of a decline in the ground, and rocks and boulders jutted out of the water from all around her.

"Anna!" she yelled, coughing out water.

Elsa saw her for a split second before the river was split by a cropping of rocks that divided the water like a giant curtain. Elsa growled in frustration. Her bangs stuck to her face, and she kicked uselessly as the current dragged her down dips and threw her against rocks.

She was tossed down a rather large dip and sucked down below the water. She fought to keep her equilibrium straight, her mind rocking from being thrown around. A flash of red reflected through the black water ahead of her. Elsa grit her teeth and swam towards the source.

She curled her arm around Anna's waist and dragged her to the surface, coughing and gulping down air. Elsa kept Anna's head above water as best as she could, but the water was getting even faster, harsher. She moved Anna onto her back and began fighting against the current, to at least climb onto a boulder or log. It would have been hard enough to get herself there with how hard the current was, but with Anna's additional weight and only one arm to use since the other was holding her in place, the task seemed nearly impossible.

Elsa's muscles burned terribly and her eyes stung from the water. She panted as she fought for traction and dug her feet into the bottom of the river, momentarily keeping them in one place before the pebbles gave way beneath her and the current forced them back.

A roaring sound rapidly approaching them made Elsa's moves frantic. _We can't be there already!_

She kicked harder and shot glances over her shoulder at the edge of the waterfall closing in on them. Her lungs burned and she coughed out water that washed into her mouth. She shot out ice uselessly in an effort to slow them down somehow, but the water was moving too fast to freeze.

The feeling of weightlessness as they were thrown over was calmer than Elsa expected. For a split second, she felt like she was flying, but the deafening roar of wind in her ears brought her back to reality.

The wind sucked the air out of her lungs and made her eyes burn. She looked around and found Anna's body falling like a dead weight a few feet from her. She grabbed Anna's ankle and pulled her to her chest in a protective hug before encasing them both in a thick sphere of ice and snow.

Elsa cried out in pain when their sphere broke on impact with the water. It felt like she had fallen from a tree and hit her back on a boulder. The milky white shell that had protected them floated around her like a broken egg. Elsa floated in the water, unmoving. Her ears rang horribly, and her mind felt fuzzy, the pain in her back making her want to simply drown right there and be done with the world.

She didn't pull from her thoughts until her lungs began to burn. She was about to push towards the surface when she saw Anna floating towards the bottom. She looked peaceful, like a calm ghost falling slowly to the blackness of the river-bottom. Ignoring her own pain, Elsa furiously kicked her legs towards the redhead. Most of her energy was spent, but she managed to reach Anna before she drifted beyond the point of saving. Her ears painfully popped from the depth and spots crowded her vision as she grabbed the back of Anna's dress and pushed for where she hoped the surface was.

Elsa broke the surface in a large splash, her free arm flailing and her lungs coughing up water and desperately gulping down air. The invisible substance filled her being like liquid life and made the spots in her vision fizz away. She immediately paddled for land, dragging Anna's body onto the sand and collapsing to her knees beside the redhead as she hacked up water and waiting for her blurry vision to clear.

Elsa was met with silence after her fit of coughing. She looked back at her traveling companion. "Anna?" she croaked. The redhead laid eerily still, her face pale as snow.

Elsa shakily crawled over to her. "Anna," she called more forcefully. She stopped beside her body and shook her shoulders. Anna's body shook like a wet ragdoll, her head lolling to the side. "Anna, are you okay?" No response.

Concern bubbled up in Elsa's chest with the beginnings of panic. She pressed her ear against Anna's chest and found she wasn't breathing. "Nononono..." She shook her shoulders again, this time harsher. "Anna. Anna, wake up." She smacked her cheeks. "Dammit, Anna, breathe!"

Elsa looked around helplessly. She didn't know what to do. She pressed Anna's chest and shook her shoulders, checking every few tries to see if she was breathing again.

Elsa was smacking her again when Anna finally coughed out water and gasped for air. Relief hit Elsa like a tidal wave, and she almost smiled.

Anna's head rolled to the side, and her eyes swam in an unfocused haze. Elsa gently grabbed her face and made her look up at her. "Oi," she said, lightly patting Anna's cheek to get her to focus on her. "Are you okay?"

Anna's half-lidded eyes stared through her for a long minute before her pupils contracted into focus. Her eyes suddenly widened in surprise, and she screamed in fear before she shot a strong right hook that caught Elsa in the face and sent her sprawling to the side.

Anna sat up and coughed out the remaining water in her lungs. She could barely keep her teeth from chattering from how freezing she felt. Her fingers were numb, and she couldn't even feel the recoil from her punch even though her knuckles were red from the smack.

She scooted back defensively before recognizing the person she just sucker punched. Elsa crouched over on her knees, groaning in pain and holding her bruising face.

"Oh my god!" Anna yelled as she rushed to Elsa's side. "I am so sososo sorry. I didn't mean—I thought you were…Are you okay?"

"No, I'm moaning in pleasure. Of course I'm not okay!" Elsa spat, her voice sounding strange from behind her hand.

Anna scooted closer and reached out. "I can help—"

"No," Elsa quickly said, reaching out to keep the redhead a safe arm's-length away while her other hand cradled her face. She pinched her nose and yanked it to the side in a strange cracking noise that made Anna cringe before she sighed. "You helped enough," she said tensely.

Anna was going to say something more but decided to keep her mouth shut, her jaw shivering from her chattering teeth. Her soaked fur cloak weighed against her shoulders like a sheet of ice.

It was completely black out now. The half-moon shone bright, and the first stars started to appear in the sky.

Elsa stood up, her half-naked figure dripping water. She tried to stretch out her back but stopped with a pained wince. She growled. "I'm going to get firewood. Can I trust you to stay here, or are you going to go for another dip?" she snarled. "I'm not above freezing your feet to the ground."

Anna cringed from her tone, guilt biting at her chest. She looked away and weakly nodded her head. Elsa turned and marched into the forest beyond the shore, grumbling and rubbing her sore nose.

Anna looked to the side and felt her stomach do a somersault at the size of the waterfall cascading down the cliff. Her chest cringed with shame when she realized the meaning of Elsa's staying away from the water was for her protection and not to belittle her.

_Stupid. So stupid_, she thought.

Even though her cloak was soaked through, it helped keep the wind from biting at her wet body. Anna hugged her legs to her chest and buried her face in her knees to conserve some form of warmth. Her nose, ears, fingers, and toes were already numb. Her face was chapped with cold.

_She saved me. Again. _

Anna had very little time to ponder anything further before Elsa was back with an armful of wood. She strode towards her in haste and dropped the branches on the ground. The blonde didn't spare her even a glance before she immediately set up the fire pyre, a poorly suppressed growl trembling through her scowling mouth.

Once the wood and brush was set up, Elsa picked up the flints. It was then that she finally looked up at Anna, and she did a double take. "Why are your clothes on?" she asked, her voice as cold and biting as a chip of ice.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Anna asked, blinking in confusion

"Take your clothes off," Elsa gritted between clenched teeth with dangerous slowness. "You need to dry."

Anna blushed. "I-I'm drying f-fine, thanks," she said through chattering teeth, smiling politely to thank Elsa for her concern. "The f-fire will be going soon anyways. I-I'll be alright."

Elsa opened her mouth to say something but instead turned away with a snort of contempt, shaking her head and continuing to growl under her breath as she struck the flints and sparked the brush.

A tiny flame sparked in the brush, and Elsa cradled and gently blew at it before setting it beneath the wood pyre. The dry sticks soon caught onto the flame, and Anna scooted closer to the desperate warmth.

Anna chanced Elsa a glance as the blonde stoked the fledgling fire. "Elsa, I'm…I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall in. I was p-picking berries and—"

"I told you to stay put."

"I know I'm s-sorry but I just thought—"

Elsa's eyes darted to hers in a piercing glare. "Well, you should stop. Because of you and your _thinking_, we can't get back to our supplies, we don't have any food, and I have to stay up and keep a lookout for whatever this fire will attract." She angrily tossed the stick she had been stoking the fire with into the flame. "Oh, _and_ you added another day to our journey since now I have to get us around this godforsaken cliff."

Anna scowled. "You didn't tell me there was a waterfall," she grumbled defensively.

"I shouldn't have to! Do you have no common sense? I said to stay away for a reason!"

Anna shot to her feet, her face contorted in anger. "I didn't ask you to save me! Sorry to inconvenience you!" she yelled before storming away.

Elsa stood up. "Where do you think you're going?"

Anna glared over her shoulder. "Away from you!"

"Don't be ridiculous. You'll freeze!"

"I don't care!" Anna yelled back. Throwing down her cloak, she plopped down and leaned her wet back against a tree. "I'll sleep over here with my tree which I'm sure will be much better company than you, and you can do whatever you want over there!"

Elsa sputtered, her mouth opening and closing dumbly. "I made this for _you_!" she squeaked, her hands flailing towards the fire.

Anna laid down and curled up with her back towards the blonde. "Well then maybe you can use it to thaw your ego!"

Elsa's eye twitched and she grabbed at her hair. She turned and yelled, a sound that sounded like a cross between a roar and a bark. A growl rumbled loudly from her chest, and her hands clenched into fist hard enough to make her nails bite into her palms as she paced and glared at the redhead.

_Who does this brat think she is? I just saved her life! And this is how she acts?!_

Elsa didn't know how long she had been pacing for her fury to simmer down to a hot anger. Growling, she sat down beside the fire and pawed at the earth to resist the urge to strangle the girl. The fire did nothing to warm her. The cold didn't bother her with her internal warmth.

She shifted her glare from the sopping wet dress still hanging on Anna's back to the fire crackling in front of her. She grabbed a handful of sand and tossed it on to suffocate the fire. _If she doesn't need it then fine. I'll just put the damn thing out._

Elsa threw on a few more angry handfuls of sand before she stopped, her mind clearing from its angry haze. She took a deep breath, her growl beginning to recede.

_I…I guess I did overreact a bit…_ She dropped the sand in her hand. _And humans will die if they freeze…_

Elsa exhaled heavily through her nose. She begrudgingly stood up and walked over to the redhead huddled against her tree. The girl didn't stir when she got close. _She shouldn't be falling asleep that fast..._

Elsa crouched down and shook Anna's shoulder. "Anna, I'm—"

Anna shook violently under her wrapped palm, and Elsa could hear her teeth chattering painfully. Concerned, Elsa turned her over and found her face scrunched in pain and her lips tinted an unnatural blue. Her hair was caked with frost and her body shivered like a leaf in the wind.

Elsa's eyes widened._ Dammit, I'm stupid._

Elsa quickly but carefully picked Anna up and carried her to the fire. Even though she was immune to the effects of cold, Elsa could feel a chill from Anna's skin when her face leaned against her bare shoulder.

_Crap._

How the redhead was able to hide how cold she is was beyond her. Her temperature was even now continuing to drop. If it hadn't been life-threatening, Elsa would have been impressed by the princess' show of strength.

_Stubborn little shit._

Elsa carefully laid Anna down by the fire. The redhead shivered enough to shake the sand beneath her, and she curled into a fetal position. Elsa pried away Anna's hands from her chest and rubbed from palm to fingertip them to get blood circulating back through them before giving the same treatment to her cloth-wrapped feet.

After what felt like an hour, Anna was still freezing, her body shaking violently and her body curling up like a dying flower. With her concern now boiling to panic, Elsa laid down behind the redhead and pulled her body close against hers to where they were almost touching, making sure that she made her body radiate its unnatural warmth.

Anna turned and desperately cuddled into her, her legs tangling with hers and her hands tucking against her abdomen. Elsa blinked and blushed at the close proximity of their faces before adjusting their position so Anna's head tucked under her chin.

Elsa didn't know why, but something about having this shivering girl clutch to her for warmth made a surge of protectiveness shoot through her veins. She tentatively wrapped an arm around Anna's wet body, her thin form feeling even smaller with how curled up she was. Anna whimpered, and Elsa instinctively responded with a calming purr-like sound of her own and tucked the redhead closer to her chest.

Eventually, Anna's breathing slowed to a casual snore, and her body stilled with the exception of the slow rise and fall of her chest. Elsa thought about moving away, but she didn't want to risk Anna freezing again. Her clothes were still sopping wet.

She laid her cheek against the sand and stared into the fire, her senses on alert for danger as her companion continued on her peaceful sleep.

* * *

><p>Anna woke up to the sound of sizzling. A spray of dirt hit across her face, and she swatted it out of her eyes. She tried vainly to go back to sleep, but another spray of dirt forced her awake.<p>

She sat up and stretched her jaw in a yawn, surprised at how well-rested she felt. She looked to the side and found Elsa shoveling sand onto what was left of their fire, sprays of dirt missing the fire and landing in her lap.

Anna blinked in confusion. "How did I get here…?" she mumbled out loud though she was asking herself. She swiveled her head back to look at her tree.

"You must have rolled in your sleep. I'm surprised you didn't end up in the fire," Elsa grunted as she shoveled more sand.

"Hmph." Anna scowled and crossed her arms. "Some lookout you are if you didn't notice. I bet you fell asleep."

Elsa stopped and looked at her, her icy eyes adorned with thick bags of sleeplessness. "You aren't the only one exhausted, princess. You almost drowned me, too."

Anna blinked, and Elsa turned away and patted down the fire. The redhead crossed her legs and awkwardly rocked in place. "Thank you…for saving my life," she mumbled. "I-I'm sorry for making you have to save me. I promise I'll listen to you next time."

Elsa paused. "You're welcome."

Anna flashed her a friendly smile that reached from ear to ear. Elsa blinked and looked away awkwardly.

_Someone's in a weird mood this morning_, Anna thought. _But at least it's a good weird. I think. Well, she isn't mad anymore, so it has to be good, right?_

Anna shrugged off the blonde's action and set to taming her hair. She was surprised Elsa didn't give her a smart remark about its monstrous state, but she supposed she should be grateful for that. It took her a while to untangle her knots with her fingers before she could actually begin braiding.

She hummed to herself a tuneless song as she wove her hair. A sudden lack of movement from in front of her made her pause, and she looked up to find Elsa openly staring at her. Specifically at her hands.

Anna arched an eyebrow when Elsa had yet to move. "Everything okay?" she asked tentatively.

Elsa blinked out of her stupor to look up at the redhead in surprise before looking away and trying to busy herself with something. Unfortunately for her, the fire was put out, and there was nothing for her to pretend to be doing.

Elsa folded her arms behind her back, refusing to speak, and Anna could have sworn she saw a light blush scattering across her cheeks. Elsa glanced back at her when both of them continued to do nothing, clearly uncomfortable with their awkward atmosphere.

Anna almost smirked. Awkward was her thing. She could do this all day. Anna rose her eyebrows and inclined her head, prompting Elsa to speak.

Elsa's eyes locked onto a blade of grass somewhere to her left, and her face flushed redder. "How—Why do you do that…?" she mumbled, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Huh?"

Elsa rose her shoulders and shifted her feet. "With your hair…Why do you do that?" She made a twirling motion with her finger. "The twisty thing."

"Oh. You mean braid? Well, I've been doing it since I can remember. I don't think I've ever worn it otherwise. I like it."

Elsa grunted.

"Why do you ask?" Anna asked.

Elsa finally looked at her. "I thought you wanted me to ask you questions."

"Oh." Anna blinked in clear surprise. "Okay." She gave a toothy smile.

Anna made quick work of her braid, and then the two were off, Anna following Elsa's practically naked form somewhere into the woods. She blushed, but she guessed she would just have to get used to it. Elsa's clothes were lost back with the rest of their supplies.

Anna pulled at her dress and winced, scratching her side. "Why is everything so itchy?"

"Wet rash," Elsa stated simply as she climbed over a fallen log. "I told you to take your clothes off."

Anna paused in mid-step, her jaw hanging open disbelievingly. "Whaaat?" she whined. "You could have told me that!" She pulled again at her dress sticking to her skin. "Great. I can already feel the skin chaffing off my thighs. I'll be a chicken by the time we get to Arendelle."

In front of her, Elsa made a weird sound. It was hard to tell since she was hacking through a bush when she made it, but Anna could have sworn she just heard Elsa laugh.

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><p><strong>Long chapter for y'all great readers. I appreciate the reviews:)<br>**

**-REKA**


	6. Bear with Me

**I liiiiiive  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen**

* * *

><p>The color drained from Anna's face as she leaned away from her blonde companion, specifically what she had in her hand. They'd been traveling since dawn, not stopping to take any breaks until the sun began its decent in the west. And even though her body was exhausted and her stomach cramped with hunger, Anna hesitated when offered to eat Elsa's <em>unique<em> catch.

Elsa held out the spit, cooked flesh glistening with beads of grease. "Here," she said.

Anna managed a weak nod, curling her cloak closer around her body. "N-No thank you. You eat it," she insisted. She pained a smile.

Elsa rolled her eyes and sighed. "I told you I already ate on my way back from hunting. Now eat." She jutted the spit closer to her face. The pink flesh was cooked a golden brown that would have shamed the castle chefs, and just the smell was enough to make her mouth water but…

Anna swallowed hard and reluctantly took the warm stick in shaking hands. "Are you sure it's safe to eat this?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes. I've had it many times before. Just imagine it's chicken."

Steeling her stomach, Anna took a bite. The meat was tender and juicy, with a slight chewiness. It actually tasted good. Smiling, she took another bite, this time more ravenous than the last. The filling hole in her stomach swelled in contentment.

Elsa laughed lightly. "Don't eat so fast. You'll get a scale stuck in your throat," she chided, scooping up handfuls of sand over their small cooking fire.

Anna shivered at the reminder. She was less than excited when Elsa returned to their small camp with the scaly creature, but she was entirely grateful for the meal. It was just unfortunate for her that her worst fear had to be her meal. "Why did it have to be a snake…" she mumbled to herself, taking another large bite, this time chewing slower.

"We're lucky I found anything," Elsa said. Anna slightly jumped in her seat. She was still getting used to the blonde's super hearing. Talking under her breath was a habit she would have to break quickly. "Food is scarce as it is without that damn garlic masking scents," she explained.

Anna arched an eyebrow. "Garlic?" she mumbled around a mouthful of food.

Elsa pointed into the distance. "There's a patch about half a mile upwind. Lots of it apparently."

"Oh." Anna looked out in the direction Elsa pointed. Garlic would throw even her off, she supposed. The blonde had a sense of smell that could rival any bloodhound. And judging from the way Elsa kept pawing at her nose, the smell must be stifling even from this distance.

Their conversation died soon after, Anna's attention focusing on her meal. The air was eerily quiet since food was acting as a temporary cork on Anna's mouth. It felt almost strange for Elsa to be able to hear her own thoughts again. _And it's only day two_, Elsa thought to herself. She laid down from her sitting position, her hands cradling the back of her head over the pebbles and one of her legs bending up while the other laid straight. She closed her eyes, thoughts of nothing in particular running through her head.

A gradual thumping noise interrupted her thoughts from drifting into a short nap. The sounds pounded at a regular pace, and it was somewhat familiar. It tickled at her ears.

Elsa opened her eyes, expecting to see storm clouds, but the sky was clear. Not a wisp of cloud in sight. She scowled. _It's just my pulse_, she deadpanned, settling back on the ground. _Great. I can't even recognize my own heartbeat anymore. _

The pounding intensified, and however Elsa tried, she couldn't ignore it. With a growl, she shot to her feet, swiveling her head around the area.

Anna paused in her eating, her stick nearly bare of flesh. She lowered it and looked at her companion cautiously. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Elsa said nothing. She narrowed her eyes, her ears twitching. She took a tentative step towards the treeline and sniffed the air, her nostrils flaring. The ring of silence chimed eerily.

Anna tried to listen as well. She focused past the sound of the river lazily bobbing by and the dry rustle of the trees. It took her a minute or two, but she finally heard something. As her attention span was just about to run out, a heavy thumping pounded through the area. It continued to increase in volume until it blended with the pulsing of her blood in her ears. Anna looked at her companion in question. Elsa stiffened and took another step, her posture low and wary.

When the noise was seemingly on top of them, Elsa spun around wide-eyed with her mouth open to voice a warning, but whatever she was going to say was drowned out by a deafening roar.

A crash of trees split the air as a bear tore through the bushes that marked the treeline with the ferocity of a charging bull. Anna's throat ran dry at the sight. It was the largest creature she had ever seen. Thick muscles rippled like crashing waves beneath its brown pelt, and its limbs were as thick as tree trunks. It paused and swiveled its massive head towards its new prey. Anna's breath caught in her throat when its beady eyes caught their focus on Elsa. The beast roared again before charging at her.

Caught off guard, Elsa hastened to form a wall of ice to protect herself, but the bear crashed through it before it was fully formed. The magic crumpled like dried clay under its brute force. Elsa had no time to react before the animal barreled into her, her body flying like a rag doll from the force. She tumbled to the ground a few yards away and skidded to a painful-sounding stop that knocked the wind out of her. She tried to push herself up on her arms, but fell down into a fit of coughs, trying to regain her breath.

"Elsa!" Anna screamed.

The bear snapped its attention to the redhead. It snorted and charged on thick paws towards her. Anna shot to her feet and made a break for it, but the bear easily caught up to her shorter strides. She could practically feel its hot breath brush down her neck.

Thinking fast, Anna made a sharp turn, hoping to capitalize on the bear's large size and momentum. The bear slid past her just as she had hoped and crashed into a tree, the plant uprooting from the force, but the speed of her turn caused her to lose balance. Anna's heart dropped to her stomach and her chest tightened as her feet tripped together, causing her to stumble and land on her stomach.

The bear continued its charge, the ground shaking from its weight. Frozen in fear, Anna stared at the approaching beast, too scared to even scream as death approached her with an open maw.

The bear's momentum was veered to the side when a boulder-sized ice shard collided with its head. Dazed, it stumbled back from the blow and pawed at its stinging face. Anna stared at it dumbly for a long second before a deep growling led her to find Elsa crouching over her. The blonde bared her teeth and snarled, lowering her body over Anna's and leaning over her to place herself between her and the bear. The bear roared and Elsa roared in return, a sound between a lion's roar and a wolf's growl. Anna pressed herself down to the ground, Elsa's limbs protectively keeping her somewhat hidden.

The bear stood up on its hind legs and drew back its paw to swipe down a crushing blow, but before it could make the downward stroke, Elsa pounced, her momentum allowing her small weight to topple over the bear. The two of them rolled on the ground exchanging blows before the bear found its footing and slammed them to a stop, its larger mass looming over Elsa beneath it.

Elsa wheezed as her back slammed against the pebbles, and she barely caught the bear's face in time to protect her head from being mushed like peach from its thick teeth. She grunted as her arms strained to keep its snapping maw away from her face, but the larger, stronger beast was inching towards her, the hot breath of its roars blasting over her. Frustrated, the bear swiped a paw downwards, and Elsa dodged to the side to avoid being crushed, the beast's claws digging deep burrows into the ground where her head was just at.

The bear roared in frustration. It shook its head furiously, its momentum and brute strength swinging Elsa around until the blonde saw stars. Lifting its head, the bear's thrashing threw her to the ground by its side, leaving her dazed. Closing in on its victory, the bear reared back for the final strike.

The bear stopped mid-roar as a rock hit the side of its head. It barely flinched from the small impact, but more soon followed. Landing on all fours, it swung its mass towards the direction of the intrusion, a rock hitting it square in the face as it did so. The bear growled and pawed at its face from the attack.

"Hey ugly!" Anna yelled, picking up another sizable rock and chucking it at the bear. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" The bear roared, its predatory gaze piercing the redhead as she continued to pelt it with rocks.

Having enough, the bear charged. Anna froze for a handful of seconds before her survival instinct made her move, her legs pelting her away from her attacker.

A choking roar made Anna skid to a halt. The previously attacking bear was now reared back on its legs with an angry Elsa holding its thick throat in a choke hold. The bear pawed at the air and shook its head in a vain attempt to shake off its attacker. Elsa hung on in an iron grip, the bear desperately stumbling around the clearing. The beast finally lost its balance and fell backwards, trying to crush the leach restricting its airway. Elsa jumped off as soon as its momentum began to fall backwards, and the bear landed in a loud thud in the pebbles.

Elsa shot her hands out as soon as the bear hit the ground, ice shooting from her palms and freezing it to the ground. The beast struggled and growled, trying to free itself. Elsa ran to Anna as soon as she ceased her flow of magic, grabbing her hand and sprinting away. The sound of roars and shattering ice made Elsa speed up her pace until she was practically dragging Anna through the woods.

They dove through bushes and skirted around trees until Elsa brought them to an abrupt stop. Anna nearly ran into the blonde's naked back as the woman stood rigid, her muscles tense and her breathing heavy from their run. Elsa paused for only a handful of seconds to sniff the air before she took off again, dragging her companion behind her.

Anna saw only a blur of green as they slid down the hill and into a grove of wild garlic. The weed-like flowers overwhelmed her with their stench. Anna went to get up to continue running, but Elsa pressed a hand between her shoulders to keep her lying on the ground. The redhead looked back at the blonde and flinched at the close proximity of their faces. Elsa's head was practically resting in the crook of her neck while the rest of her half-laid/half-hovered on top of her.

Anna blushed red enough to burn, but Elsa remained concentrated on the problem at hand. Her eyes scanned the area between the weeds, and she shifted her body lower over the redhead until Anna could feel her hips and chest press against her body. She made a small choking sound and pressed her stomach further into the ground, hoping to become one with the dirt to escape her predicament. Elsa's warm breathes brushed past her cheek in slow, controlled, tense intervals.

It seemed like a small eternity they were hiding until the thundering of paws alerted them to the bear's approach. It crashed clumsily though the woods to the garlic, roaring and pawing at its nose to get rid of the irritating smell that stuck up its nostrils. It was barely a few yards away, the tremble its massive paws made on the earth shaking the blood in Anna's veins.

Anna pressed further into the ground, her pulse thumping so hard in her ears that she swore the bear could hear it. In the corner of her eye, she could both hear and feel Elsa hold her breath and press flush against her body to get as close to the ground as possible. Frost iced over Elsa's hands, and her eyes hardened. Anna could feel her muscles tense over her, ready to spring.

But as soon as it arrived, the bear left. Whether it was sick of the garlic or too tired to continue its hunt, Anna didn't care. It was finally gone.

The two of them stayed in position until Elsa finally made a move to slowly get up into a small crouch. Anna moved to get up as well, but Elsa gently pressed down on her back to keep her down, shaking her head to tell her to stay put. Anna shakily nodded back.

Elsa poked her head out of the garlic patch before stepping out into the open. Her eyes darted over the area, and Anna lost sight of her legs when she walked out after where the bear left.

Anna sat there, scared and alone. She didn't dare move. The cast of the sun around her shifted from yellow to a dark orange as time waned on, each second feeling like an eternity.

The sudden feel of something on her shoulder made Anna shoot up from her position. She screamed and scooted back on the ground until her back hit a tree. A fresh wave of adrenaline pumped through her veins and her wide eyes darted terrified in front of her.

A hand over her mouth cut off her scream. Her hands shot up to tear away the offending arm, but another hand encircling her wrists kept them gently pinned to her lap.

"Hey!" called a voice in front of her. Anna opened her eyes and was met with concerned arctic blue. Her mind registered recognition, but her body continued to thrash as she stared at the face in front of her. "Hey hey, shushhhh hey," Elsa cooed calmly, softly. "Calm down. It's me." Anna stopped her involuntary struggles, her chest heaving and her muscles still somewhat tense. Those blue eyes enticed her to calm down, the depth of their pupils dilating and the intensity of their concern gaze waning to a sky-blue softness. "It's just me."

Elsa waited a few seconds for Anna's body to untense before she released the loose grip her had on her wrists. "I'm going to let go now, okay? You have to promise not to scream," she said slowly, her head dipping to look up at the redhead. She shifted her position on the ground so that she was kneeling over her at a less threatening angle.

Anna nodded, her shoulders sagging and her breath ghosting out of her nose and over Elsa's knuckles as the blonde slowly pulled back her hand.

"I-Is it gone?" Anna asked in a near whisper, too scared to talk any louder lest she attract the bear.

Elsa leaned back, resting an elbow on her knee. "Yes. Long gone by now," she said equally as softly, a soft, relieved smile on her lips.

Anna slumped against the tree. "Good God, I thought it was going to eat us!" she groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"If it found us it would have." Elsa stood up, flakes of garlic clinging to her skin like a powder. "We'll have to be more careful. That bear was no rogue. I'm guessing it wandered out of its territory just to hunt you down."

Anna blinked. "Me?" she asked, pointing a finger to her chest.

Elsa looked down at her. "You reek of human. I could smell you a mile away." Elsa offered her a hand—which the redhead gladly took—and pulled her to her feet with ease. "Luckily the garlic and I hid your scent."

Anna let her hand linger in the blonde's for a handful of seconds longer before she pulled away, the pads of her fingers gliding over her pale palm. "Is it a…bad smell?" she asked tentatively.

Elsa blinked before abruptly looking away, a light blush sprinkling over her cheeks as she scratched the side of her face. "Not entirely no," she said slowly, as if she were making a point to choose her words carefully. "It smells more like…uh…" Her face turned a darker shade of red. Finally she shook her head and cleared her throat, forcing herself to look at Anna again. "…I guess the only way to describe it is you smell like easy prey."

"Oh."

"'Oh' exactly. With hibernation coming up for the larger animals and food becoming scarce, anything within a few miles will be attracted to you like bees to honey."

"What about your scent?" Anna asked innocently.

Elsa growled, her eyes narrowing. "I am not easy prey," she snarled. She stopped growling when a look of fear flashed through Anna's eyes. The girl had meant no offense. Elsa cleared her throat. "Nor am I human," she said calmly.

Elsa turned and began walking, Anna following close behind. "I was hoping my scent would be able to mask yours until we got clear of the woods, but I guess I was wrong or that bear just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way we should be fine now, but keep your guard up," Elsa said.

"Why didn't you just kill it? I'm pretty sure a little 'pew pew' to the head would have saved both of us a heart attack."

Elsa glanced at her. "Believe it or not, princess, I don't like killing unless it's absolutely necessary. I saw an opportunity to escape without killing it, and I took it. But if it came at us again I was prepared to do what was necessary. It was just trying to fend for itself. Food out here is scarce as it is without winter forcing prey into its burrows."

Anna paused. _Unless necessary? But she...she _murdered_ someone. That's not necessary killing...Or was it?_ she thought.

Maybe her killer guide wasn't as bloodthirsty after all.

"Hey."

Anna blinked, blue eyes coming into her vision.

"Keep walking," Elsa said.

* * *

><p><em>Snap. <em>

Anna jumped. "What's that?" she asked nervously, her eyes struggling to peer into the darkness.

Elsa didn't pause her pace. "Nothing."

Anna took a deep breath, willing her nerves away again.

_Right. It's nothing. Just a trick of the—_

Anna squealed when the bush next to her rustled. She jumped to Elsa and hugged her arm, hiding behind the taller woman. The blonde was forced to stop with Anna clinging on to her.

Elsa sniffed the air. "It's just a squirrel," she chastised, looking down at her companion who was latched onto her like a child to their mother. Anna peeked around her and saw a brown ball of fur scurry out of the bush and up a tree.

Anna turned to look up at the blonde, her eyes still wide from the adrenaline rush she was receiving form her fear. "B-But what if next time it's not a squirrel?" she stuttered, subconsciously tightening her grip on Elsa's arm.

Elsa's expression softened, the tight corners of her lips relaxing. "Relax, Anna. The land here's too flat and the trees too thin to hide anything worth worrying about," she said.

Anna wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Anna still looked unsure, huddling to the blonde and her muscles still tense.

Elsa sighed. "If anything does come after us, I promise I'll protect you."

Somewhat surprised by the reassurance, Anna looked up at her taller companion and blinked in confusion. The blonde had been nothing short of raw sass since their journey began. Endeared by the declaration, Anna smiled, the edges of the gesture nearly reaching form ear to ear in a show of thanks. Elsa blushed and looked away, furrowing her brow into a straight line and making an awkward noise that sounded like a cross between a grunt and clearing her throat.

"Now come on," Elsa said, clearing her throat again to force away the red in her face. "If we move quickly we can make camp within the hour."

The two continued their trek through the forest, Anna still latched onto Elsa's arm and the latter surprisingly making no comment about it.

Anna barely suppressed the urge to cuddle against the blonde. Her body radiated a warmth like a human oven. The heat seeped through her thin clothing and gratefully warmed her cold body, reducing the nip of the night air that was chilling her to the bone. Elsa's skin was softer than she expected. Smooth muscle glided beneath with every twitch of a finger or stretch of her hand.

Her scent wasn't too bad either, considering she didn't have access to oils or soaps. It was an earthy, smoky, nearly musky scent that reminded her of snowy nights huddling next to the fire in the castle library.

_Maybe I can just rest my eyes…_ Anna thought, the warmth and scent of her human pillow luring her into a premature slumber while her legs went on autopilot to keep her moving. Her eyelids slid closed, and her head lolled to the side, her cheek resting on her wet shoulder—

Anna blinked her eyes open in confusion. _Wet?_ She leaned her head back and felt moisture stick to the side of her face. She regretfully untangled one of her hands from Elsa's warm arm to inspect the new substance.

Anna wiped the wetness off on her hand. It felt warm and sticky, and in the moonlight it looked dark on her hand. The metallic scent of the substance wafted towards her nose, and Anna's eyes widened.

"Elsa!" she yelled, pulling away from her and staring anxiously at the blood on her hand. "You're bleeding!"

Elsa stopped and blinked at her companion, looking at the blood on her palm. She twisted her body to glance back at her shoulder, the blood shinning in the moonlight as it ran down her back and soaked into the bandages that wrapped around her chest. "Hm," she grunted plainly before she blinked away and continued walking. Noticing her companion not following her, Elsa stopped and turned around to find Anna glaring at her in disbelief, her mouth hanging slightly open. "It's just a scratch," the blonde defended.

Anna's jaw closed with a snap and her face morphed into a scowl. She untied her cloak from around her shoulders and held it out to the blonde, suppressing a shiver as the frigid night air hit her exposed body. "Take it," she commanded.

Elsa blinked in confusion. "What?" she asked, looking at Anna like the girl had just grown a second head. "No. You'll freeze without it. Put it back on."

Anna didn't move. "Take it."

"I said no."

"I'm not gonna wear it anymore so you might as well."

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "Put it back on," she ground out.

"No."

The two exchanged a heated glare, each waiting for the other to back down but both being too stubborn to submit.

A growl tore from Elsa's throat and her eyes narrowed to icy slits. "Anna, put on that cloak _now_," she bit out.

Anna was undeterred by the aggression. She held out the cloak further, her scowl changing to a concerned plea that was no less stubborn than before. "No, Elsa. Please, you got hurt because of me and we have no other clothes for you because I lost our supplies. Just take it."

Elsa strode towards the redhead, forcing Anna to retract her hand holding the cloak. She stopped a hairsbreath away from her, glaring down at the shorter girl. "If you don't put that on right now, I swear I will _make_ you wear it," she snarled, her voice dangerously low.

Anna glared right back up, pushing the cloak against the blonde's chest for her to take it. "Stop being so stubborn! Just swallow your pride and—H-HEY!"

Anna struggled to pull away when Elsa grabbed her arms and gently forced her to the ground, straddling her hips and using her weight to keep her pinned. Yelling profanities, Anna vainly fought to escape Elsa's grip as the stronger woman forcefully wrapped the cloak around her body, trapping Anna's arms against her sides.

Anna yelped in surprise when Elsa effortlessly hoisted her up and carried her over her non-bleeding shoulder like a sack of wheat.

"Elsa!" Anna yelled in frustration, struggling to release her arms from the thick fur cloak. "Put me down!"

Elsa said nothing, continuing to walk on.

* * *

><p>Anna shifted in her prison, trying and failing to reposition herself since Elsa had an iron grip on the back of her knees. Her head was beginning to swim from the rush of blood to her brain from leaning down for so long, and her fingers were tingling with the first symptoms of numbness.<p>

"Are we there yet?" Anna groaned, trying again to bend her head to the side to get the forming kink out of her neck. It didn't work. "My hands are asleep."

Surprisingly, Elsa stopped.

"Promise to keep the cloak on?" she asked.

Anna blew a stray bang out of her face. "I don't really have a choice…" she mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Anna quickly responded, not wanting to lie over her shoulder any longer than she had to. She sighed, her body going slack in defeat. "Fine. I'll keep the stupid thing on. Happy?"

Anna could practically feel Elsa smirk. "Good," she said. Elsa bent over and carefully deposited Anna on her feet. She released the knot she tied on the cloaked and watched in slight amusement as Anna grumpily detangled herself and tied the cloak properly around her neck and shoulders, mumbling hard under her breath and refusing to take comfort in the generous warmth that the cloak provided. "Because we're here."

'Here' was a small plateau of thin grass under the canopy of a thick oak tree. There was a small stream a few paces away that ran over some of the tree roots that had grown into its shallow bank.

Leaving Anna's side, Elsa crouched by the stream and cupped the cool water in her hands, sipping gratefully at the liquid. Once her thirst was quenched, she set to washing herself, grime and dirt and fur and pollen and all manner of filth washing from her skin until she was again her normal pale.

Elsa glanced to her side at the sound of crunching leaves as Anna sat on her knees next to her. Her expression was more relaxed than a few minutes ago, but the frustration of having her stubbornness outmatched lingered in the subtle way she bit the inside of her cheek.

Elsa arched an eyebrow questioningly when Anna shimmied the cloak to her side and dipped the end of it into the water. She rang out the excess water from the fur before shifting on her knees to face the blonde and reaching out with the dampened piece of cloak.

Elsa immediately flinched out of reach, her brow furrowing into a scowl. "What are you going?" she asked.

A muscle twitched in Anna's jaw. "Just shut up and get over here," she said in a neutral voice, motioning with her free hand for the blonde to get closer.

Elsa narrowed her eyes in disapproval. "That cloak is for—"

"Hey, I still have it on, don't I?" The redhead countered, pointing to the ends of the cloak still tied around her neck. "Now come on. Turn around so I can clean you up before you get an infection."

"I don't need your help."

"I wasn't asking," Anna stated. "If you won't wear this stupid thing then I can at least clean your wound."

Elsa looked away and muttered a growl, staying where she was.

Anna smirked. Rolling her eyes, the redhead crawled on her knees until she was situated behind the blonde. Elsa didn't move away when she touched the cloak to her shoulder.

Anna moved her hand slowly, peeking her head around at Elsa's face to make she wasn't causing her pain. After she brushed Elsa's ponytail out of her way, Anna placed her other hand on her opposite shoulder to steady herself, and she felt the blonde tense up under her touch before quickly relaxing again.

The wound was wide, but thankfully it wasn't deep. It was more likely caused by her hitting the ground than a swipe of the bear's claws. Nevertheless, it managed to produce a surprising amount of blood. Strings of it were crusted all down her back having soaked through a part of her chest bandages all the way to the brim of her shorts.

Dirt and blood washed easily off of her back, and Anna paused when she didn't find soft skin underneath. It was hard to see in the dark, so she investigated with her hand, her fingers pressing through the cloth of her cloak into the various ridges carved into the blonde's back. Some of them bulged from her skin while others carved into her flesh in long pink burrows that stretched across her back, the deeper ones catching a mixture of water a blood. Moving her face closer, Anna could see smaller white scars crisscrossing along her skin like marks of chalk on a board.

Anna's chest caved in on itself like it was made of glass. _What…What happened…?_ she thought pitifully. Her eyes trailed up her back and down her shoulders to her arms and eventually to her legs where there were more scars as well, though not as badly riveted as her back. _How did I not notice before…?_

Anna didn't realize she had stopped washing until she felt Elsa stiffen. The blonde shifted uncomfortably on the ground, and the air between them seemed to thicken. Anna didn't have to look at Elsa to know that her curiosity had been discovered.

"I-I'm sorry," Anna blurted, retreating her hands.

"No it's fine," Elsa said, her voice uncharastically soft. She stared absentmindedly into the stream.

The blonde's tone shot off warning sirens in Anna's head to shut up, but her mouth had other ideas. "What happened?" she asked.

Elsa glanced back at her before returning her gaze to the river, the spluttering of its rush calming the night air. "It's a long story, princess," she sighed.

"I love stories," Anna said, chancing a smile to try and lift Elsa's mood.

Elsa smiled wryly and laughed, although the sound was nothing like it had been before. There was no happiness. No merriment. No _laughter_. Just sound.

Elsa stood up. "Let's go to bed," she said, though she sounded like she was talking to herself. Anna watched her walk past, the urge to pry almost agonizing but the desire to not hurt the woman much stronger.

Anna followed after her. There was enough grass for them to just sleep on the ground. Elsa curled up on her side, one arm resting over her face. Anna sighed. _Great. Now she's upset._ Mentally kicking herself, the redhead situated herself on the ground as well, pulling her cloak close around her and forcing herself to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Lots of you are asking about Elsa's animal...<strong>

**It will come**

**In due time my sweet lemondrops**

**It will come**

**-REKA**


	7. Indefinite Borrowing

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.**

* * *

><p>It was still night when Anna woke up. Sleep clung to her mind like a fog, her limbs heavy with exhaustion from the previous day. Groaning, she crossed her legs and tried to will away her full bladder and fall back to sleep.<p>

_Dammit_, she thought with a groan. She pushed herself up from her surprisingly comfortable grass-bed and stretched her arms above her head, enjoying the pop between her shoulder blades and neck. Beside her, Elsa laid unmoving besides the gentle rise and fall of her side.

Blinking herself more awake, Anna carefully stood up, not wanting to wake the blonde. Elsa had a much rougher day than her, and she deserved a full night's rest.

She looked younger while she slept. Her features softened out of their normally taunt, stressful look. Her mouth was slightly parted open, and she rested with one hand over her face like a cat or a dog might. She wasn't exactly snoring, but the slightest scratch of breath could be heard whenever she exhaled.

Anna hid her giggle behind her hand. She tried to act tough, but Elsa was too adorable for her own good.

A thought crossed Anna's mind just as she was stepping away from their campsite. Grinning deviously, she turned back and untied her cloak. Stepping with care, she tip-toed to Elsa's side and laid the cloak over her curled up body with the care of a mother laying down her baby.

The redhead sucked in her breath when Elsa mumbled and scowled in her sleep until she re-settled in a new position, snuggling her face into the crook of her arm and relaxing back to her mild snore.

Anna released her breath, thanking the gods that Elsa was either a heavy sleeper or too exhausted to wake up, and scurried away to someplace where she could do her business.

After Anna made her water, she turned to head back to her and Elsa's camp.

It took her an hour to admit to herself that she was lost.

"Oh come on…," Anna groaned, continuing to walk on. She wrapped her arms around her middle in search of warmth. _Okay. Maybe Elsa was right about the cloak_, she thought ruefully as another shiver danced down her spine from a chilling breeze.

"All I wanted to do was go to the bathroom. Can I not even do that without screwing up?" she asked, looking up. The moon was crescent tonight, its milky white curve seeming to smirk at her.

"That's right, laugh it up!" Anna yelled. "You think you're so great just sittin' up there at night. You just wait till I get up there. I'll have the gods wipe that smirk right out of the sk—AHHHHHHHHH!"

Anna yelped in pain as the ground beneath her feet took a sudden turn downwards, sending her tumbling down a hill. Her vision became a blur of black and green until she landed in an undignified splash at the bottom, her bum and legs nearly freezing on impact with the icy water she now sat in.

She reached out to push herself up on a nearby rock. "Cold," she stuttered between chattering teeth. "Cold cold cold cold cold."

The sudden close sound of voices snapped Anna's attention away from her chilling body.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for the night? My family would be happy to have you," asked a deep, thickly accented voice.

Anna scrambled forward, ducking behind a boulder to hide from the two men on the opposite side of the treeless valley she had fallen into. A few boulders and a quant house and barn were the only things in the empty area. One of the men—if such a giant can be called human—was loading crates onto the back of a wagon while the other normal-sized man secured the wagon's harness to a horse.

"Thank you, Oaken, but I really need to be going," the small man replied. He walked into the house and returned with a bundle of clothes that he placed with others that were already in the wagon.

_He must be a merchant of some sort_, Anna thought as she watched the man return back to the house for more bundles of cloth and other goods.

"You can't be traveling this late at night. It's not safe, Markus. Please, I insist you stay," Oaken said.

Markus hopped into the driver's seat and took the reins. "I would love too, old friend, but I'm already behind schedule. Thomas will have my hide if he finds I'm late because I stopped in Corona to buy my son a souvenir. And these lands aren't dangerous if you stick to the Kingsroad. I won't be traveling much longer. Just until I get close enough to Barnhill that my nerves will be at ease."

Anna eyed the bundles of clothes tied down in the wagon, her thoughts immediately returning to Elsa and her own half-freezing body. _Elsa needs clothes_, Anna thought, her wet body shivering. _We both do._

Saying their goodbyes, Markus reined his horse onward, the wagon—and Anna—trailing after it.

_I'll be back before Elsa wakes up, _Anna reassured herself as she crept along the side of the road, sure to stay out of sight. _He said he was only going a little longer._

* * *

><p>The minutes she spent walking along the road turned into one hour and then two. Anna was about to turn and head back to a hopefully still sleeping Elsa (if she could even find her way back) when Markus finally stopped in a dirt clearing.<p>

The time Anna waited in the bushes for him to set up camp and fall asleep felt like the longest moments of her life. But luckily for her, the man fell asleep as soon as he curled in his sleeping blankets around a fire.

Wasting no time, Anna walked with careful steps out of her hiding place and around the wagon to where she saw the clothes were tied down.

_Dammit_, she growled, struggling to untie the knot that bundled the clothes to the wagon. Giving up on the intricate knot, the redhead just pulled at the clothes until, one piece at a time, they came out of their carefully folded confines.

_Yes!_ Anna smiled in victory when she finally pulled the clothing free. _She'll just have to deal with purple, I guess, _she thought absentmindedly._ It's the only thing I could really get out. I guess I could try for the brown one on the bottom…No it'll take too much time. I need to get back before Elsa—_

There was a rustling noise around the side of the wagon.

"Who's there?"

Anna's blood ran cold. For a fleeting second, she thought about making a break for the treeline, but doing so would make her have to pass by Markus and hope he didn't catch her. She pressed her back against the side of the wagon, holding her breath and clutching the clothes to her chest.

Wary footsteps made their way towards the wagon, each step accelerating Anna's heartrate.

Markus rounded the wagon. While he may have looked small at a distance in comparison with the behemoth he was standing with before, he was by no means small. He easily towered over the Arendelle princess.

The two stared at each other for a tense second before the man's face split into anger and he strode forward, reaching to grab her. "What do you think you're—"

_THUNK_

Markus' eyes rolled back before he fell heavily to the ground, unconscious.

"_What_ do you think you're _doing?!_" Elsa snarled. Anger wafted off of her in thick waves and frost cracked in the air around her. She held Anna's cloak at her side in a deathgrip, her knuckles turning white.

Any relief Anna felt from seeing the blonde evaporated at the growl in her voice. She immediately regretted having to go pee. "E-Elsa," she stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

Elsa stepped over Markus' unconscious body. "What am _I _doing here? What are _you _doing here?" she spat.

"I had to go to the bathroom," Anna said lamely.

"Four miles away?! Do you not realize how dangerous the forest is at night? Do you _want_ to be bear food?!"

Anna said nothing, her face heating with shame.

Elsa threw the cloak at Anna's chest, the redhead stumbling to catch it. "We are leaving. _Now_," she growled, her voice as comforting as an iceberg. She grabbed Anna's upper arm and dragged her towards the treeline.

"Wait!" Anna yelled, digging her heels into the ground and trying to wring her arm free. "Elsa, wait! Please!" The blonde didn't stop.

Grunting, Anna managed to free her arm and jump out of reach before Elsa could catch her again. "Elsa, listen to me, please. You need clothes," she pleaded.

"What?" Elsa growled exasperatingly.

Anna held up the clothes she pulled from the wagon. "You and I need clothes. You especially. I didn't want to go off by myself, honest, but then I got lost and found this merchant guy and he had clothes so I followed him—and I swear I was just going to grab the clothes and come back—but then he just kept going and I was going to come back but you really need clothes so I—"

Elsa silenced her with a growl. "Anna, I told you I'm fine. The cold doesn't bother—"

"_I don't care!_" Anna yelled, her face as red as her hair.

Elsa flinched back at the sudden outburst, her eyes widening at the angry redhead.

Anna took a deep breath to calm herself. "I don't care. You need clothes," she said in a tense voice. "The cold may not bother you, but I don't like seeing you get carelessly scratched up and I don't want to see you hurt anymore," she said firmly, determination flaring in her eyes.

Elsa stared at her, all anger gone. Anna pushed the clothes into her hands. "Now get dressed," the redhead ordered.

Elsa watched Anna walk back to the wagon, rummaging for more clothes. She blinked, looking down at the purple cloth in her hands and running her thumbs over the smooth fabric.

_She got this…for me…?_

A clearing of a throat made Elsa look back up at Anna. The redhead had another set of clothes in her hands.

"What?" Elsa asked dumbly.

"I said 'Could you please turn around.' I'm going to change," Anna said.

"Oh…um, right." Elsa quickly spun around, the sound of soft grunts and cloth sliding over skin tickling her ears until her face burned.

She allowed herself to indulge in the sweet sound for a second longer before shaking her head to cleanse her thoughts. _Just put on the clothes_, Elsa thought, unfolding the clothes in her hand.

Elsa paused.

It was a purple dress.

Elsa turned towards the wagon, the dress held tight in her hand. "I am not wearing this," she stated, going to where the other clothes were and rummaging for a proper outfit.

"Why not?" Anna asked, fitting her feet into black boots. She was clad in a long-sleeved blue dress with a black embroidered corset. A thick purplish cloak was draped around her shoulders.

"It's a dress."

Anna crossed her arms. "Very observant. Now put it on."

Fed up with pulling at the cloth bundle, Elsa cut the rope securing it with an ice knife. "I don't wear dresses," she said.

"Why not? You would look great in one."

"They're impractical and showy." Elsa pulled out a dark blue shirt and pants and quickly slid them on. They fit snugly on her body. The shirt laced up at a V in the front, but the sleeves were too long for the blonde's liking.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked.

"Fa fleeves are foo flong," Elsa mumbled around the bundle of shirt sleeve in her mouth before tugging again to try and tear it off.

"That doesn't mean you rip them off!" Anna strode to Elsa's side. "Come here." The redhead rolled up her sleeves to just above her bicep, willing herself to ignore the tone of the muscles sliding under her hand. "There!"

Elsa inspected the neat folding curiously. "Thank you," she said.

Anna flashed her a smile before going back to the wagon to tidy it up. Sure, they may be thieves, but they could be tidy thieves.

The sight of a brown box to her left made Anna pause her folding.

"Anna, what are you doing? We have what we need. Let's go," Elsa said, tapping the redhead's shoulder.

"One second!" Anna said excitedly. She quickly finished up the clothes and pulled out the brown box.

Elsa frowned. "We don't need that. Leave it. We've stolen enough already."

Anna turned to Elsa, an inhumanly large smile plastered on her face. "But Elsa it's chocolattteeee. Have you never had it before?"

"No now put it back."

Anna's face fell to a stubborn scowl. She opened the box and plucked out a piece of chocolate, holding it out to the blonde. "Try it," she commanded.

Elsa crossed her arms. "Anna, I said no."

"Try it."

"This man will only be knocked out for so long."

"Eat the damn chocolate."

"Papa?"

Anna and Elsa both froze at the sound of a new voice. A little boy, eyes wide and the blonde tuft of hair on his head disgruntled from sleep, peeked around the wagon.

"Who are you?" he asked innocently. "What happened to Papa?" The boy waddled to his father's unconscious body, his little hands shaking his torso. "Papa, are you okay?"

When his father didn't respond, the boy started to cry.

At the sight of tears, Anna immediately ran to his side. "Hey hey hey don't cry," she cooed, wrapping an arm around his trembling form. The boy immediately buried his face into Anna's side, his small fingers grasping handfuls of her dress.

"B-But Papa's not getting up," he sobbed.

"That's because he's sleeping." It was technically the truth.

The boy sniffled and pulled his face out of Anna's dress, his watery eyes searching her face. "Sleeping?" he squeaked.

"That's right," Anna said. She looked to Elsa for some kind of help, but the blonde was inching to hide behind the wagon, her body tense. _Some help you are_, Anna groaned to herself. She looked back down at the boy. "Your Papa saw me and my friend walking down the road and asked us to help him sleep."

The boy's tears began to dry from his eyes. "How did you help him sleep?"

Anna blinked. "Well um…ugh…," she sputtered nervously. "I-It's an adult secret. You'll learn it when your older."

The boy's eyes lit in understanding.

_Kids are so gullible._

"Can you help me go to sleep too?"

_Shit._

"I'm sorry, hun, but it only works on adults," Anna quickly said. "Why don't you grab your Papa's blanket and go to sleep too?"

The boy's eyes glossed over with the beginnings of new tears. "But…I'm scared. I don't want to go to bed alone without Papa," he whimpered. He looked up at her pleadingly. "Can you stay with me?"

Anna bit the inside of her cheek at a loss for words. They couldn't stay. Markus was bound to wake up any time. But they couldn't just leave a little kid…

Anna blinked in surprise when Elsa stepped towards them from her hiding spot behind the wagon and crouched beside the boy, her face an unreadable mask. The blonde waved her wrist and a small snowman appeared on her palm. The boy's eyes widened in amazement, his jaw falling slack.

"See this?" Elsa asked softly. The boy nodded. "This is Olaf. He's scared to go to bed too."

The boy cocked his head questioningly. "Why?"

"Because he's so tiny. He's afraid someone will come by and step on him."

The boy's eyes widened in horror. "Can't you make him bigger?" he asked.

Elsa gave a small smile. "Then he wouldn't be Olaf anymore," she said. She reached for the boy's wrist and put the snowman in his hand. "Do you think you can protect Olaf and help him sleep? He doesn't like being alone."

The boy nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh."

Anna's jaw fell open, her mind going blank in confusion. She watched Elsa pick up Markus' body and place him back on his sleeping mat near the fire. The little boy waddled along and plopped next to his father's side, wrapping the man's arm around him for a pillow.

"Won't he melt?" the boy asked, holding Olaf with care.

Elsa placed the blanket over the boy and Markus. "Olaf is special. He likes warm hugs. Now lie down and close your eyes."

As soon as the boy did as instructed, Elsa placed her hand at the crook of his neck and pressed on the pressure point that she knew would knock him out. The boy didn't even flinch from the action, and his breathes immediately evened out to unconsciousness.

Elsa nodded to Anna and the two made their retreat. The boy would be fine in the morning, but Markus might have a sore neck for a few days.

Anna sped up to reach Elsa's side. The blonde gave her a wary look. Anna was smiling, but it wasn't a normal smile. Elsa arched an eyebrow questioningly, the redhead's crescent moon eyes and unnerving smile alerting her.

"What…?" she asked cautiously.

"Nothing~" Anna sing-songed, popping a chocolate into her mouth. "You are such a softy."

"I am not—you took the box?"

"Yes. Now eat it before I shove it down your throat," Anna demanded, shoving a chocolate into Elsa's face.

Elsa glanced between Anna's face and hand before she begrudgingly took the strange substance between two fingers. It had a strange glossy surface. She gave it a tentative sniff, but it didn't really smell like anything. Cracking it open with her fingers, she found it had a somewhat chalky consistency, almost like a broken ball of hard clay.

"Just eat it already!" Anna groaned.

Elsa gave the treat one last wary glance before she popped the pieces into her mouth, chewing slowly to analyze the new food.

Anna felt her excited expectations deflate when Elsa had no reaction after swallowing the treat. Not even the slightest smile that chocolate seemed to magically give people.

Elsa reached into the box for another.

Anna laughed. "Told you you'd like it!" she cheered.

Elsa blushed and looked away with her signature stoic face.

Then she grabbed another, Anna giggling like a maniac while the two of them ate their treat.

* * *

><p><strong>Whoo chapter 7<strong>

**-REKA**


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